Alliance & Betrayal
by AngieLuz
Summary: Sequel to Trusting The Enemy. Liz and Tony are happy together but a new enemy and their pride will separate them as some visitors arrive to NCIS to help with a case. A new agent joins the investigation. Tony/OC
1. Prologue

**My children! I'm back!**  
**So soon? You ask... SO SOON!!! YAY!!!**

**Ok, so this is my new story. It's the sequel to Trusting The Enemy.**  
**You will see our favourite characters along with some new additions.**  
**And just so you know, this story is more about action and field work than investigation so I hope you like it as much as the first one, considering it is a crossover with NCIS: Los Angeles (which I also love!)**

**Disclaimers: I don't own anything from NCIS (too bad, I know) CBS, Donald P. Bellisario and Shane Brennan own all that. **  
**I own Liz Hadley, Kirsty Randall, Mustafa Katani, Agent Beaufort and the rest of the new characters you'll be meeting very soon.**

**So, without any further ado... I give you Alliance & Betrayal**

**Enjoy!!!**

* * *

**PROLOGUE**

"**فرانسیسی ایجنٹ لانے مجھے **_(Bring the French agent to me)_" Commander Mustafa Katani instructed to one of his soldiers

His soldier saluted him and rushed out of the dark, filthy dungeon-like room. The elegant auburn wood Louis XV desk, 2 matching chairs, an armoire of the same period and a red Persian carpet contrasted with the room.

The commander leaned back on his leather chair and waited for his prisoner to be brought.

Less than a minute later, 2 soldiers walked into the 'office' dragging the body of a man who seemed to be unconscious, if not worse. The soldiers threw him onto the carpet in front of the desk and marched back to the door, flanking it.

"**Bonne journée, Monsieur Beufort. Mes hommes me dire que vous commencez à ... coopérer. ****Je suis heureux d'entendre tant** _(Good day, Monsieur Beufort. My men tell me you are starting to... cooperate. I'm glad to hear so)_" Commander Katari said smiling as he stood up and approached to the wounded man. He bent down and pulled the man by the hair "**Dites-moi tout ce que vous savez sur Alliance Base si vous ne voulez pas me faire du mal à vos amis américains**_ (Tell me everything you know about Alliance Base if you don't want me to hurt your American friends)_"

"**Tout ce que je vais vous dire, c'est que votre temps est compté, Katani **_(All I'll say to you is that your time is running out, Katani)_" Beaufort replied daringly

Commander Katani raised his free hand and back-handed Beaufort across the face. He then straightened up and looked down at the pitiful man in front of him. Beaufort was lying face down on the floor; his body had been beaten up harshly several times, blood was draining off from his nose, lower lip and from a severe cut on his scalp, right next to his ear.

"**Avez-vous peur, commandant Katani? **_(Are you afraid, commander Katani?)_" Beaufort laughed with great effort and noticed how Katani's expression changed. He didn't look arrogant anymore "**Vous serez mort avant que vous pouvez même faire vos prières **_(You'll be dead before you can even say your prayers)"_

Before Beaufort could say anything else, commander Katani pulled out his gun, pointed it at the Frenchman's head and pulled the trigger, making him believe he would actually kill him and then pointed the gun at the ceiling, shooting at it

"**Je me fatigue de vos jeux, agent Beaufort **_(I'm getting tired of your games, agent Beaufort)_" Katani added and received another daring glare from the agent "**لانے اور لے کر مجھے دیگر! **_(Take him away and bring me the others!)" _He commanded and after his men had taken Beaufort away from the office, they dragged in 2 other persons.

They were put in front of the desk; one was a man and the other a woman. The woman was in the same conditions as Beaufort; bloody, beaten up, on the verge of losing all consciousness while the man looked better and had hardly been hurt.

"Welcome back, agent DiNozzo…" Katani greeted and Tony looked up from the floor "I hope your stay here is of your liking"

"To be honest, the hospitality of your household is quite lacking" Tony joked, even in the darkest hour

"I am afraid I cannot provide you with better lodging, you know… diplomacy is not one of my best traits"

"I would not have guessed that" Tony replied half smiling

"I was just talking to Monsieur Beaufort… he wouldn't tell me anything about Alliance Base and their involvement in our conflict… but I am sure you will" Katani said without losing his smile

"And how can you be so sure?" Tony asked also smiling

"Because if you refuse to cooperate…" As he said this, Katani approached to the woman kneeling next to Tony, he grabbed a fistful of her hair and she winced in pain as he lifted her face "I will kill agent Hadley…"

* * *

**Well, well, well... interesting beginning, huh?**

**Anyways... the new language is Urdu, the official language in Kashmir, at the north of India. You'll be seeing more of it in the future.**

**Don't forget that the storyline and the situations and characters are all made up. None of this is actually happening in Kashmir. This is just the written proof of how crazy my mind is.**

**I do try, however, to be as accurate as possible when it comes to facts, places, languages and a few data but apart from that, it's just a bunch of bananaramas I've made up. I'm saying this to state that nothing of what I've written so far expresses my opinion on the topics touched in these stories.**

**Now, that been said, I hope you enjoyed this prologue and please, stay tunned to see what's in store for Tony, Liz and the rest of NCIS' gang!**

**Thank you for reading and remember:**

**Koo Koo Kah Choo! xoxo**


	2. Chapter 1: This Sucks

**Good day, my children! I have a bit of a headache so I'm going straight to the point:**

**I own nothing about NCIS, CBS, Donald P. Bellisario and Shane Brennan do.  
In this chapter the only one I own is Liz Hadley, ok? Ok! **

**Enjoy! :)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 1**

A month and a few days earlier, on a cool sunny Sunday morning during the month of December at Washington D.C., Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo lied in bed sleeping peacefully when a cell phone started to ring.

"No…" He mumbled but the ringing continued "Argh! No! It's Sunday!" And continued "C'mon, people! I'm trying to sleep here!" He exclaimed sinking his face on the pillow as if that would stop the ringing "Damn it! Ok… ok…"

With his eyes still closed, he stretched out his arm towards the bedside table and grabbed the cell phone.

"Very special agent Anthony DiNozzo" He answered with a sleepy voice

"DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked at the other side of the line "What are you doing answering Liz's phone?"

That made Tony wake up completely. He jumped up and sat at the edge of the bed rubbing his face.

"B--- boss! Good morning… yes, good morning…" He rushed to say

"I'm waiting for an answer, DiNozzo" Gibbs insisted

Tony's mind started working a thousand miles per hour trying to figure out how to explain everything to Gibbs "Well… you see, boss… I… I drove Liz home last night and she left her phone in my car… we're going to see each other today so I can give it back to her"

"Right… well, tell her to call me as soon as she gets it back" Gibbs said not convinced at all with Tony's argument

"Sure will…" He said and then Gibbs cut him off "…boss"

Exhaling, he left Liz's phone back on top of the bedside table and let himself fall back onto the bed.

"That was so close…"

"What was?" Liz asked walking into the room carrying 2 cups of hot just-made coffee

She walked to the bed, handed Tony his cup and climbed next to him wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and the shirt Tony has worn the day before.

They had been going out steadily as real couple for over 6 months and since no one at the office (or out of it) knew anything about it, they practically had to sneak around to spend time together.

"Let me breathe for a moment…" Tony replied and took a sip of his coffee "It was Gibbs…"

"So…?" Liz asked failing to see the complication "He always calls, it doesn't matter if it's our day off or not…"

"Yeah, I know… but I don't usually answer your phone…"

"What…?" She asked confused and then understood what Tony had meant "WHAT?! Oh my God! What did he say? What did you say?"

"Calm down… I have it all under control…" Tony said cockily

"Tell me his exact words and tell me your exact words…"

"Liz, take it easy… he asked me why had I answered your phone and I told him your had left it in my car last night when I dropped you off at home" He explained

"And how did he sound? Convinced? I don't think he bought that…"

"Well, if he bought it, there's nothing to worry about and if he didn't buy it…" Tony's voice trailed off

"We're doomed…" Liz condemned with a gloomy voice

"It's not a big deal, Liz"

"It's not… It's not a big deal? Are you out of your mind? I'm about to become a full time NCIS agent and you say it's not a big deal? Tony, if Gibbs finds out about us…"

"We'll just… face it when the time comes and if he can't live with it, well… he can shove rule #12 up his…" He couldn't continue. Liz had covered his mouth with her hand. He took her hand off his mouth but held it tightly "Liz, no matter what Gibbs thinks, no matter what Vance thinks, no matter what the President thinks, I am not gonna let you give up on us…"

"Who said I am giving up on us?"

"Well, I'm sure I am not that's why I said it…" This made Liz smile widely "You haven't kissed me good morning yet, by the way…"

"Oh, I'm sorry…" She said and leaned forward to kiss Tony sweetly on the lips "Good morning…"

"Good morning…" He replied smiling as he leaned back against the headboard. Liz sat on her side of the bed hugging her legs and staring into space "What is it?"

"Do you think we should tell them?"

"Tell who what?"

"The team… about us…" She replied finally turning to look at him

"Oh…" Tony said sitting up "I… I don't know…"

"You've worked with Gibbs longer than I have… you must have an idea of…"

"I don't… I've only been in a serious relationship once while working with him and it wasn't with a co-worker"

"So… no idea?" She asked and he shook his head "This is killing me, Tony… at first it was kinda romantic, you know… having to sneak around but now… it's just ridiculous! I feel like a teenager hiding from her parents!"

"It still sounds romantic to me…" He paused to kiss her neck "Like Romeo and Juliet… the 1968 version, not the 1996 one… I didn't like it…" He said and made her laugh

"I'm serious, Tony!"

"Me too! I really hated the 1996 version..." He replied but noticed Liz's serious look "Ok, ok… yes, it's a little… immature, but only a little…"

"Maybe we should come forward and be honest with them, especially Gibbs…"

"Yeah… maybe… by the way, he asked me to tell you to call him" He said trying to change the subject

"I'll call him later… did he tell you what he wanted?"

"No… can we please forget about Gibbs for a while and… think about something else?" He asked sassily wiggling his eyebrows

"What do you suggest, Mr. DiNozzo?" Liz asked more relaxed

He leaned towards her and whispered something into her ear, making her giggle.

"Wanna show me how that's done?" She asked and he kissed her as she laughed

* * *

"I suppose that wasn't Liz" Kirsty told Gibbs as he hung up

"No…"

"Tony…"

"Yes…"

"Answering Liz's phone? Isn't that… weird?" She asked

"It's not weird… it's against the rules…"

"NCIS' rules or your rules…?"

"Both…" He replied and Kirsty raised an eyebrow in disbelief "Alright, mine but DiNozzo knows better than that"

"You're not even sure, Jethro. Give them the benefit of the doubt" Kirsty said

Gibbs stretched out his hand to take hers from across the table in the small café they were at.

After solving the Volkov case in June, they had started a relationship… or something of the sort, for that matter but after 2 months it had turned into a long distance relationship.

Kirsty had been offered a very good job in San Diego, CA for an important book publisher as head of the cover art department.

Since the beginning, Kirsty had accepted Gibbs' aloof personality and she even thought that, because of that, their relationship would end once she moved to San Diego but it had actually helped. He showed a slightly more affectionate side whenever they had the chance to see each other.

He had flown to San Diego 5 times since she had moved away and she had just arrived to D.C. for the 6th time.

The idea was to spend the holidays together.

"I suppose you're right…" He distractedly said squeezing her hand

"What is it, Jethro? You seem… worried" Kirsty asked

"No, it's nothing…" He lied

"Look, I know better than to push it and force you to tell me what's going on but… I can't help to worry and the fact that you want to talk to Liz isn't a good sign"

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, the last time I heard you saying those words to Liz was 3 months ago and you wanted to tell her about a mission she had to attend in the Czech Republic" Kirsty said and Gibbs narrowed his eyes

"It's something like that, isn't it?" He didn't answer but Kirsty understood "What is it this time?"

"She has to go to France" Gibbs said rolling his eyes knowing what Liz's answer would be "And she told me she wanted to spend the holidays here"

"Well, maybe she'll be happy to spend them in France… I suppose she'll be going to Paris"

"No… Lyon… it's a top secret thing or at least that's what Vance told me"

"But, Christmas won't be here until 2 weeks, if she leaves next week, she might be able to make it back by that date" Kirsty said hopefully

"I don't know… hopefully… she's about to become a full NCIS agent, you know? And she has worked so hard for it…"

"I thought she liked being an SAS"

"She does… but I think she likes NCIS better and it's less complicated and I'm sure she would like to meet someone and start a family and if she continues to be an SAS, she wouldn't be able to" Gibbs explained

"I understand… so, has she talked about resigning to the SAS?"

"She mentioned it… once but only to Abby, who happened to spill it out after a huge Caf POW bribe" he said with a small smile

"That must've been torture for her…" Kirsty joked

"Probably…"

"And why didn't she tell you?"

"Because she thinks I'd be disappointed at her" He said

"Which you wouldn't"

"Of course not! Liz is a great agent but she has the right to have a life of her own and the SAS won't let her do that… at least here at NCIS it would be easier"

"Why don't you talk to her and tell her everything you've just told me? I'm sure she'd feel better if you did" Kirsty advised

"I don't know… Liz is very obstinate and proud… we'll see" He said seriously and then smiled lightly at her while kissing the back of her hand

* * *

Later that day, before dinnertime, Gibbs dropped Kirsty off at his house and headed to Liz's apartment where he had agreed to see her. After knocking a couple of times, she opened the door.

"Hey, Gibbs. Come on in, please" She said and after closing the door followed her boss to the living room "Take a seat… can I get you anything?"

"No, thanks, Liz… how are you?" He asked sitting down

"I… am… fine… why do you ask?" She replied sitting in front of him

"Can't a friend ask another friend how she is?"

"Normally? Yes… but when it comes to agent Gibbs I find it quite difficult… what is it?"

"I think I'm gonna take that drink offer now…" Gibbs said

"Gibbs…" She warned and he sighed

"Last Friday, after you and the other had already gone home, Vance called me to his office"

"And…?"

"And… he asked me to inform you that you have to go to France…"

"To visit a friend?" Liz joked hopefully and he shook his head "For a mission…" She concluded sadly

"I'm so sorry Liz… neither me nor Vance can control the commands of the SAS. I know I promised you'd get to spend the holidays here…"

"Don't worry, Gibbs" She interrupted him "I know it's not your fault… duty calls… I suppose…"

"No, it doesn't!" He said and she looked up to see him "You could quit the SAS"

"What? No, Gibbs… I couldn't…" She replied shaking her head and looking down again

"Why not? Do you owe them so much loyalty?"

"No! I mean… yes… I mean… it's complicated" Liz ran a hand through her hair

"You don't have to feel this way, you know?"

"How?"

Gibbs thought for a moment and analyzed her reaction. He didn't want to press the wrong buttons.

"However it is that you're feeling" He finally said

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… don't listen to me… apparently I'm senile" He lied and joked

"You think I still suck my thumb, don't you?"

"Of course not, Liz… forget I even said a word about it"

Liz squinted trying to decipher Gibbs' expression but, as always, his face didn't give anything away.

"Are you going to take the mission?" He asked after a moment of silence

"Of course! Why wouldn't I?" She replied still wondering what Gibbs had meant before

"Just asking, kid"

* * *

A while later, Gibbs said goodbye and left and less than five minutes later, Tony was knocking on Liz's door.

"What happened? What did he want?" He said walking towards the living room

"To talk…"

"About?"

"About…" Liz started and sighed as she sat down next to Tony "I have a mission…"

"What? Where?"

"France, apparently. Although he didn't give me any details. He said he'd brief me tomorrow because I also have to talk to Vance"

"Do you know when you'd be going?" He asked and she shook her head "Will you be here for Christmas?" She shrugged "This sucks…"

"It does… I'm sorry, Tony… this is so not how I wanted our first holiday together to go…"

"You should quit…" He mumbled but unfortunately for him, not low enough

"I beg your pardon?"

"Uhmm… you should… sing! Yes, sing!" He lied unconvincingly

"You think I should quit?" She asked ignoring the joke

"No, sing!"

"Anthony…"

"Alright, I said quit…"

"Why?"

"Well… let me think…" He sat straight up and started enumerating with his hand "First of all, the pay is just horrific… second, out of the 6 months you've been here, you've been gone 3… third, you barely can stand on your feet when you come back and work for NCIS… and fourth…" Tony stopped and took her hands in his "Every time you go away… I don't know if you're coming back"

Liz half smiled at Tony and tilted her head to the side.

"That's very sweet, Tony… but it is my job. It was my choice. I could've been a regular cop but I decided to do something greater than that… to prove myself to the world and… well, to myself" She explained as softly as she could

"So you're telling me you've been doing this for all this years just to… brag about it?"

"Of course not! How can you say something like that? I've done what I've done for my country, for your country, for the betterment of the world!" She exclaimed

"And you expect me to believe that?"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Let's be honest, Liz, you joined the army and then the SAS to find the people who planted that bomb in that mall all those years ago and get back at them for killing your parents!" Tony snapped back and read Liz's outraged expression "Yes, I read your file, sew me"

"How dare you say something like that? How can… how can you think of me that way? I… I couldn't… I… You're an idiot, Tony… you know nothing about loyalty, about faith… and if any of what you just said was true then, you are no better than I am!"

"What?!"

"You only chose to be a cop to go against your father's wishes! You were sick and tired of living under his rules and after you broke his heart, he broke yours and cut you off his will" Tony widened his eyes in disbelief "Oh, yeah, I read your file too, mister! So don't come and tell me I am not worthy of fighting for what I believe in or whatever reason I might have, at least I am not doing it for a selfish cause!"

"Well, if you love your SAS so much, why don't you have a date with them and leave NCIS for good?" He shouted at her standing up

"You know what? You wish might just come true!" She replied in the same tone practically marching towards the door and opening it for him

"Oh really?" He walked to the door to as he said this

"Really! I am going to France and I promise you will suffer the sight of me no more!"

"Great! I won't have to be sneaking around to hide our 'so-called relationship' from Gibbs anymore!"

"So I guess this is over!"

"Fine by me!"

"Fine! It was a pleasure to be with you… NOT!" She shouted at him slamming the door as he walked out "You're an idiot, DiNozzo!"

Liz pressed her back against the door and slid down to the floor. She folded her legs against her chest and leaned her head on her knees.

"You're an idiot, Tony…" She repeated as a few tears rolled down her cheeks

Meanwhile, Tony rushed downstairs, exited the building and got into his car, but he didn't start it right away. He sat there for a moment, his mind replaying what had just happened upstairs.

"Idiot! You're an idiot, Tony!" He finally exclaimed after a few minutes and then hit the steering wheel with his fists enraged at himself

He then looked out of the window and up towards Liz's window. He could see the lights on and stayed there until Liz turned them off.

Before starting the car, he pulled out his cell phone and dialled Liz's number. Straight to voice mail. He sighed in disappointment, started the car and drove away.

* * *

**Trouble in Paradise... poor them, affected by Liz's job.**

**Anywhoooooo... Thank you so much, yet again to those who keep reading this story and welcome to the new ones.**  
**R&R, children!**

**Koo Koo Kah Choo! xoxo**


	3. Chapter 2: That's Some Handshake

**Good day, my children!**

**I wanna thank you all for reading and for raising the levels in my traffic page! I love you all so much! MWAH!!!**

**So, let's get down to business: I own nothing, blu bli blu... whatever... CBS, Donald P. Bellisario and Shane Brennan are the lucky fellows here.**

**Enjoy!!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 2**

Somewhere in Northern India, present day.

"My men tell me you seem… attached to agent Hadley in more than just a professional way, agent DiNozzo" Commander Katani said after letting go of Liz's hair

"Attached… don't you think that's a little vague?" Tony replied with a small smile

"Would you prefer the term 'in love'?"

This time, Tony lost his smile. He couldn't risk Liz's life.

"You are seriously misinformed, my non-friend" He replied

"How come?"

"Elizabeth Hadley and I are nothing but work colleagues… teammates, nothing more, nothing less" Tony said

"Is this true?"

"It is, Jafar" Tony said and Katani tilted his head in confusion "You know… Jafar… Aladdin? 1992? No? One of Disney's greatest villains?" Katani didn't answer "Wow, you seriously need a DVD player and a new film collection"

The Urdu commander approached to where Tony was kneeling and kicked him in the stomach, making him groan in pain.

"Is this how you do your job, agent DiNozzo? Don't you take the security of your country seriously?"

"Oh, I take it seriously, believe me… who I don't take seriously is you, Mustafa" Tony said smiling at the commander

"Americans… I think I liked agent Beaufort better than you… at least he felt committed to his country… but you… You do nothing but play around in other people's countries as if they were your backyards…"

"Playgrounds…" Tony corrected

"Excuse me?"

"It's playgrounds… not backyards… your country is too far from mine to consider it my backyard" He joked and the commander backhanded him across the face but he didn't lose his smile "Oh, what happened to your sense of humour, commander?"

"I left it at home…" Katani replied seriously "Are you going to tell me now about Alliance Base?"

"No… and believe me, it is not because I don't want to… but because I can't… although, coming to think about it, I don't think I'd tell you if I knew"

"And why can't you tell me, agent DiNozzo?"

"Because I don't know squat about Alliance Base…"

Katani analyzed Tony's face for a moment and then smiled as he nodded "Strangely enough, I believe you're telling the truth. Not many people know about it and I don't think an agent of your… level could know about it…"

"You'd be surprised with my level, Katani"

"That will be decided later… now, you are going to tell me everything you know about agent Callen"

* * *

The Monday after her fight with Tony, Liz sat in Vance's office, waiting for him to arrive.

She had gotten to NCIS earlier than anyone else because she didn't want to see Tony, at least not that early.

With barely 3 hours of sleep, she had arrived to NCIS, finished some paper work and headed to the director's office. The rest of the night she had thought about the fight with Tony and the reason of it.

Her train of thoughts was interrupted by Vance's entrance.

"Good morning, agent Hadley" He greeted closing the door behind him

"Good morning, director"

"I'm glad you could come in earlier. I believe agent Gibbs has already told you about your new mission"

"Not much"

"Did he say you have to go to France?"

"He mentioned it, yes…"

Vance nodded and handed her a file. She took it and read the first page "Alliance Base? Are you kidding me?" She said chuckling and looked up to see Vance who was completely serious, making her lose her small smile "You're… not kidding, ok…"

"What do you know about Alliance Base?" Vance questioned

"Mmm, not much, to be honest… they are terribly secretive and elite. I think the one thing everybody knows about them is their location… wait a second… am I going to Alliance Base?"

"For major briefing, that is"

"I'm not following you…"

"You see, agent Hadley…" Vance started standing up and pacing around his office "This is somewhat of a favour I'm doing to the SAS… as you might know Alliance Base consists on a counterterrorism unit based on undercover work. Also, you might know that Alliance Base's members vary from different agencies from all over the world…"

"Yes… France, Russia, Australia, the United States, Great Britain…"

"Exactly… that's where you come in…"

"What has happened?" She inquired

"2 of their agents were captured and one of them was found dead and his corpse burnt… in front of Alliance Base's headquarters. The British one"

"What?"

"They didn't tell me much about it but they contacted the SAS and they contacted me to recruit you"

"Recruit me? For what? Rescue mission?"

"Apparently so…"

"Why me? Why don't they send their own people?"

"They can't risk losing more agents to the terrorist. It would compromise the secrecy of their agency"

"I see… when do I leave?"

"Today. A private jet will take you and agent Callen there"

"But he's in Los Angeles. Isn't France to the other way?" She pointed out standing up and walking to the door

"So I've heard…" He replied narrowing his eyes "Agent Callen is going with you"

"To France?" She asked and he nodded "Wow… why?"

"Because he's got more information about the mission both of the agents who disappeared were working on"

"But he's American…"

"Do you have a problem with his involvement in the mission?"

"No… sorry…"

"Good… go home and pack for several days…"

"How many… sir?"

"Over 2 weeks… why? Do you have a problem with that too, Hadley?"

"No, sir…"

She gave a step out of the office and then turned to face Vance once again.

"Sir… about my formal joining to NCIS…"

"Oh, yes… about that… have you considered leaving the SAS?"

"I have sir… and… I still have to think about it…"

"Alright then… you'll have plenty of time to consider it just remember your spot here could be permanent"

"I will, sir… thank you…"

Liz walked out of Vance's office and headed to the bullpen with the case file in her hand.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the bullpen, Tony had arrived before the rest, or so he had thought until he saw Liz's bag already in her desk.

He sat down and exhaled. He had slept for 2 hours at the most the night before trying to figure out how to apologize to Liz.

"Morning" Ziva said walking out of the elevator and towards her desk "Where's Liz?"

"I don't know…" Tony replied crankily

"Whoa… someone woke up on the mistaken side of the bed…" She said

"Wrong, Ziva… wrong side of the bed… and… yeah, that's probably it…"

"Good morning, everyone" McGee greeted walking to them "Where's Liz?"

"I said I don't know! Jesus!" Tony exclaimed standing up and walking out of the bullpen

"What's the matter with him?" Tim asked

"No idea…" Ziva replied and saw Liz walking down from Vance's office "Hey, Liz"

"Hey, guys…" She said gloomily

"Were you talking to Vance?" McGee said

"Yes…"

"About?" Tim inquired

"None of your business, McGee" Gibbs replied walking to them

"Sorry, boss"

"Where's DiNozzo?"

"Here" Tony answered approaching to them

Gibbs noticed the tension between Liz and Tony and frowned trying to figure out what it was.

Then, 2 men walked out of the elevator and headed towards them.

"I believe you were expecting me, agent Hadley" One of them said

The 5 NCIS agents turned around and Liz smiled recognizing them both.

"Cal!" She said rushing to hug him

"Hey, Liz" Callen said hugging her back "Long time, huh?"

"Long time indeed!" She replied

"Don't I get a hug too?" The other man asked offended

"Of course you do, Sam!" Liz said hugging agent Sam Hanna

Gibbs and McGee greeted Callen and Sam as well.

"You must be Officer David" Sam said shaking Ziva's hand

"I am"

"I'm special agent Sam Hanna, OSP" He replied flirtatiously

"G. Callen" Callen simply said "Agent Anthony DiNozzo, right?" He stretched out his hand to Tony

"Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo" Tony corrected taking Callen's hand and squeezing it tightly

"That's some handshake you've got there, DiNozzo" Callen said smiling at Tony and then at Liz who had gone completely serious after witnessing Tony's behaviour

"You're here because of Liz's new mission, right?" Gibbs said

"That is correct…" Callen replied

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… wait a minute… what do you have to do with Liz's mission?" Tony exclaimed

"Callen and I are going to France together" Liz said

"What?! But… why?"

"Because we have to" Liz dryly answered "Although… Vance didn't mention you'd come too, Sam"

"I came to help…" Sam said

"Help? With what?"

In that moment Gibbs' phone rang. He answered and talked for less than half a minute and then hung up.

"We have a dead Marine, people gear up" He announced

"With that…" Sam smiled

"You are coming too, Liz and so are Callen and Sam" Gibbs instructed

"Does that mean they are not going to France anymore, boss?" Tony asked hopefully

"No, DiNozzo… they are still going but I believe they are gonna want to see this first"

Gibbs, Ziva, McGee and Sam got on one of the cars and while Liz got on the other, both Callen and Tony walked to the driver's side.

"Excuse me, Callen but I believe you are a guest here and guests don't drive" Tony said

"Maybe you're right but I thought we needed to get there fast" Callen replied smiling

"What are you insinuating?"

"I think you understood"

Liz rolled her eyes and annoyed by their behaviour got out of the car and walked around it to where they were.

"Give me that!" She exclaimed snatching the keys from Tony's hand

"But…" Both of them started to protest

"No buts! Get in the car… now!" She commanded

They jumped a little at her temper and walked to the other side of the car, both meaning to sit on the front. Before they could start arguing again Liz shouted at them "To the back, both of you!"

After exchanging shocked looks, they walked to the back side and got into the car, leaving Liz alone in the front.

She drove as fast and wildly as Ziva did and it got worse now that she was upset.

The whole ride they were quiet and less than 10 minutes later, they arrived to the crime scene.

"What took you so long, Liz?" Ziva asked as Liz, Tony and Callen got out of the car. Ziva had driven the other car

"Try dealing with 2 thirty something's that behave like toddlers…" She replied joining the team next to the dead marine

"McGee… any IDs?" Gibbs asked

"He has wallet, watch, cell phone, PDA, and… badge… badge?" Tim said confused

Ziva took the badge from McGee's hands and read it "Lieutenant Mark Roberts… AB?"

"Alliance Base" Liz said more to herself than to the others but they heard her

"But he's a marine… can a marine be an agent?" Tony asked

"You can if you leave the army" Sam answered

"Like Gibbs" Callen completed in a lower volume

"There's no such thing as an ex-marine" Gibbs said walking around the corpse

"We don't have time to wait for Dr. Mallard, Gibbs" Callen said

"I know… we're going to determine the COD right now… DiNozzo!"

"Yes, boss…"

"Visible COD?"

"Hanging… I mean, suffocation by… rope?" Tony asked and both Sam and Callen chuckled while the rest tried not to laugh

"Hanging was more than enough, DiNozzo" Gibbs said and slapped him in the back of the head "Punjab knot" He pointed out looking up at the rope around the lieutenant's neck

"Punjab is a region in Northern India. Whoever killed this man was trying to make a statement" Liz said

"Actually, Liz… now that you mention it, both of Alliance Base's agents were captured near Kashmir" Sam said

"And Vance told me the body of the British agent was burnt, just as lieutenant Roberts, here" Liz said

"Alliance Base has many agents from many different countries but the 3 main are Great Britain, France and…"

"The United States…" Gibbs finished for Callen "That's why you're going with Liz, isn't it?"

"Yes… they want an agent from each country…"

"Who is the French agent?" McGee asked

"Her name is Christianne Dubois" Sam replied "Vance said she'll come to D.C. to help us with this one"

"Why isn't she going to France?" Tony asked

"Because she is the French agent and because she will be coming here to fill you in about Alliance Base" Callen said

"What are you waiting for? You don't wanna miss your plane" Gibbs said

Liz nodded and after nodding at each member of her team, except for Tony, she walked back to one of the cars.

Tony rushed after her before Callen finished discussing something with Sam.

"Liz…" He started

"What now, Tony?"

"Why didn't you tell me you were going with Callen?"

"Because I didn't know until this morning…"

"Yeah, right…" He mumbled

"So now you're jealous of Callen, aren't you? Why am I not surprised?" Tony looked down "Seriously, Tony, you need to improve your self esteem…" She said getting inside the car. She meant to close the door but Tony stopped her "What, Tony?"

"Liz… I…"

"Are we going, Liz?" Callen said from the other side of the car

Tony exhaled annoyed by the interruption "Take care, ok?"

"I always do, Tony…" She said and closed the door

Tony glance at Callen's direction and if his eyes would've been daggers, Callen would've probably hit the ground in less than a second.

"Take good care of her, Callen. She's the best agent we've got" Tony said

"I will, DiNozzo" Callen said and got in the car

Seconds later, Liz started the engine and drove away.

"Take care, Liz…" Tony repeated

* * *

**Quite a long chapter, huh?**

**Well, I hpe you're still liking it and well, stay tunned!**

**Koo Kooo Kah Choo! xoxo**


	4. Chapter 3: Another 'M'

**Good day, my children!!! **

**I don't have much to say today... had a very busy weekend so I apologize for not posting earlier.  
I own nothing about NCIS but I do own Elizabeth Hadley, Mustafa Katani and Christianne Dubois.**

**Enjoy! :)**

**

* * *

**

**CHAPTER 3**

After stopping at her apartment for a go-bag, Liz and Callen drove to the airport where the private jet was already waiting for them.

Once there, Liz went completely quiet and started reading the file Vance had given her earlier.

Callen stared at her with a small smile on his face and she felt the stare.

"What?" She asked

"Uhmm… nothing…" He replied

"Seriously, Cal, what?"

"What's going on between you and DiNozzo?" He asked going straight to the point

"That… is… none of your business, Callen" She said taken aback

"That was defensive"

"It is… as everything related to my personal life"

"Personal life, huh? So DiNozzo and you, hey?" He asked smiling widely

"I never said that!"

"No, but it is so obvious…"

"Is it?"

"Mmm, sometimes… especially when Gibbs is not around… rule #12, huh?"

"Yeah… but… we had a fight last night and I think we broke up…"

"You think?"

"It's… complicated…"

"I've got time" Callen replied

Liz sighed and put the file down "He wants me to resign to the SAS"

"And you don't want to…"

"It's not that I don't want to… I just…"

"You don't want to disappoint the people who… admire you as one of the SAS' greatest agents"

"Is it so obvious?"

"No but only people like Gibbs, Sam or even me can understand…"

"Once a marine, always a marine" Liz said with a sad smile

"That's correct…"

"So what do you think I should do?"

"It's completely up to you, Liz. I've left many things behind because I was looking for something better…" Callen said

"Did you find it?"

"Not yet… but it'll come…" Liz chuckled "But I believe you have already found yours, Liz… you might want to think about that one…" Callen advised and Liz nodded while looking out the window

* * *

In Northern India, present time…

"Where is agent Callen, agent DiNozzo?" Katani asked for the third time

"I don't believe Sharon Stone's move in Basic Instincts will work for me right now, will it? You know, when they are interrogating her and she crosses her leg and…" Tony joked and finished the line with a wolf-like whistle

"I'm getting tired of your stupidity, agent DiNozzo!" Katani shouted

"And I'm getting tired of being on my knees but I don't believe you're gonna change my posture, are you?"

Katani growled enraged and grabbed Liz by the neck, pressing it tightly, cutting her air supply.

"Tell me: where is agent Callen?!" He shouted and Tony wasn't smiling anymore but he didn't speak either "I will kill her!"

Liz opened her eyes and looked down at Tony who has fighting with himself deciding what to do.

"Don't… tell… him… anything… Tony…" She managed to say as Katani tightened his grip on her neck

"Tell me!" Katani commanded furiously

Tony couldn't stand seeing Liz in pain "Stop it! I'll tell you… I'll tell you where Callen is"

"Where?" Katani insisted without letting go of Liz

"He's in France… he never came"

* * *

After a couple of hours of flight, Liz read something that caught her eye.

"Callen… you never told me the name of the British agent who was captured"

"I didn't think it was relevant"

"Well, it is… Charles Weston; he was a SAS… I knew him"

"Really?"

"Yeah… I worked with him a couple of times"

"I'm sorry I didn't mention it…" He paused for a moment "Do you know the captured French agent?"

"Jean Beaufort… no, I don't… he is still alive, right?"

"We think so… uhmm… Liz, what do you know about Christianne Dubois?"

"As much as you can know of an AB agent…"

"Do you know her… personally?"

"I met her once, in Berlin. Lovely woman, to be honest. One of the friendliest undercover agents you'll ever meet. She doesn't even behave like an agent, at all! But I don't doubt her abilities… I've heard she is a master in undercover work, why?"

"Mmm, just asking…" He lied and lied terribly

"For an undercover agent yourself, Cal, you suck at lying" Liz joked and he laughed "You know her, don't you?"

"Yes… I met her 4 years ago… in Mallorca, Spain… I was there in a mission and so was she…"

"What was your mission?"

"She was…" He said and sighed

* * *

Back in D.C., the team along with Sam worked on Lieutenant Roberts' case. Sam was at Abby 's lab listening to some of her music while they ran a few tests on the evidence the team had gotten from the scene.

"I like this one, what is it called?" Sam asked moving his head with the rhythm of the song playing

"It's called 'what do you got, Abby'?" Gibbs asked walking into the lab

"Sorry, Gibbs, we were just…" Sam started

"Working?" Gibbs said

"Yes!" Abby exclaimed raising her hand and immediately lowering it after noticing Gibbs' expression "Right… well, I checked the substance Ducky got me from the body and it turned out to be…"

"Oil" Sam finished for her and Abby hit him in the arm "What?"

"Never mind… Oil… like regular petroleum oil"

"Like the one people in the middle east used to use long before electricity" Abby explained

"Middle east? Can't you be more specific?" Gibbs questioned

"We're running a search on any organization in the middle east and India who might have big oil orders made" Sam replied

"Keep me updated" He said and walked to the elevator "And no more music until you get me a name"

"Party pooper!" Sam called out while Gibbs laughed at he got in the elevator

Meanwhile, upstairs, Tony sat behind his desk and stared at the phone.

"She's probably not going to call until they land, Tony" McGee said after watching Tony do the same for over an hour

"She should've called the minute she got on the plane" Tony replied angrily

"Why? Because she's on a plane with another not so bad-looking man?" Ziva inquired

"Noooooo…" Tony lied and went red while McGee stood up and picked up Tony's phone "What are you doing, McGoo?! She might call while you're playing with that!" He exclaimed snatching the phone from McGee's hand and hanging it up

"What's going on between you and Liz, anyways?" Tim asked with curiosity

"What…?" He asked and laughed nervously "You really should go out more often, McNosey and stop minding other people's business"

"McGee is right, you know? You and Liz are always acting suspiciously…" Ziva agreed leaning her head on her hands

"It seems like you've got a nice theory there, guys but… Liz and I are… just… friends… really good friends" Tony replied spinning around in his chair, giving his back to his teammates. In that moment, his phone rang and he hastily answered it "Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo" He said with a sexy smile plastered on his face

"Stop wasting time by staring at the phone, DiNozzo and start working!" Gibbs commanded from the other side of the phone

Tony looked around trying to find Gibbs and then when he looked back to the front, he saw his boss standing in front of him with his cell phone in his hand.

"I was just… sorry, boss" Tony said and hung up the phone looking as guilty as anyone could possibly look

"Excuse me, I'm looking for agent Gibbs" A woman with long straight brown hair, honey brown eyes and a bit of a tanned skin said walking to them

"That would be me" Gibbs said turning to face the woman

"Oh, great! It is an honour to finally meet you, sir" She said with both enthusiasm and sweetness as she stretched her hand out for Gibbs to take

"And you are…?" Tony asked while Gibbs' eyes varied from her hand to her face

"How silly of me! Forgive me; my name is Christianne M. Dubois. I come as a representative of…"

"Alliance Base…" Gibbs said finally shaking the woman's hand

"Yes, I believe you were expecting me" Christianne said without losing her smile

"Another M…" Tony mumbled with melancholy

"I beg your pardon?" Christianne questioned confused by Tony's comment but the only answer she received was Ziva's and McGee's shaking heads "Alright… Forgive my intrusion but, are agents Hadley and Callen still here?" She asked

"No, they left a few hours ago" Ziva replied

"Oh, good. My superiors are expecting them to arrive by nightfall… here, not there…" She said and tried to figure out what she had just said

"We got it, don't worry" McGee reassured her and she smiled content

Christianne introduced herself to the rest of the team and to them she seemed all but an undercover agent.

"Agent Dubois…" Gibbs started

"Please, call me Christianne or Chris or even Dubois, I don't mind"

"Ok, Christianne, what can you tell us about the case?" He continued

"Hmm, where to start? Let's see…" She pulled out a thick file out of her bag and placed it on top of Tony's desk making a deaf sound "Oops, sorry… anyways… this is all agents Roberts, Weston and Beaufort managed to get for us before being captured"

"But… what is it?" Ziva asked

"It's an in-depth investigation on a radical ramification of the JKLF"

"JKLF?" McGee questioned

"Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front. But believe me, they are not the real problem"

"What do you mean?" Gibbs said

"The JKLF has existed for God knows how long but this radical group, they are our real concern" Christianne paused for a moment and then continued "3 years ago, the so-called leader of these radicals, Commander Mustafa Katani planned and executed the kidnap of a member of International Amnesty. He was our countryman"

"French" Tony deduced

"Yes… his abduction and later murder was nothing but the first of the many horrible events that followed. His 'army' destroyed entire villages; they would kill the elders, rape the women, take the children to teach them their philosophies and forced the men who were strong enough to join them. It was horrible"

"And Roberts, Weston and Beaufort?" Gibbs asked

"Well, as you may know, Alliance Base is a counterterrorist intelligence centre but since it is located in France and it was a Frenchman who was killed, I.A. asked for our help. Lieutenant Roberts was a member of A.B. as was agent Weston and is agent Beaufort. Lieutenant Roberts was an ex-marine"

"There's no such thing as an ex-marine" Tony, Ziva and McGee said in unison and received a quite amused look from Gibbs

"Alright… whatever you say… he 'gave up' the US army after getting an invitation from A.B., agent Weston was an SAS agent, just like agent Hadley and agent Beaufort is part of the Interpol" She sighed hoping agent Beaufort would still be alive "The team was made and they started the investigation. I have been part of the team from the beginning as well but I had just returned from a very long undercover mission in Spain so I was designed to stay in France while they undertook new identities as a rebellious ex-military, a business man and an arms dealer, respectively. One by one, their covers were exposed, we are suspecting that was an inside job but we are not sure yet…" Christianne explained

"And what is it that Liz and Callen are going to do there?" Tony asked

"Find Katani's lair" She simply replied

"What?! Are you out of your mind? You've just said every single agent your people have sent there has been either murdered or has disappeared!" Tony exclaimed

"DiNozzo…" Gibbs said in a cautious tone

"I'm sorry, boss but this is nonsense! We've just sent Liz to her death!"

"And what about Callen? He's in the same peril as Liz" McGee said

"Mmm… not really…" Christianne intervened

"What do you mean?" Tony questioned

"Well… what I mean is that… agent Callen is not going to Kashmir…"

"WHAT?!" Tony almost shouted infuriated

* * *

**Oh yeah... this is just starting to get interesting... ;)**

**So, I'm gonna take off. Please, don't forget to R&R and to keep reading.**

**Koo Koo Kah Choo! xoxo**


	5. Chapter 4: Santa Claus

**Good morning, my beloved children :D**

**I'm a bit busy taking care of a stray kitten I found so I'm going straight to posting the next chapter...**

**You know the disclaimers so blu bli blu...**

**Enjoy! :)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 4**

At Lyon, the jet landed safely and after gathering their things, Callen and Liz were taken in a secure car to the secret location of the Alliance Base.

Neither of them had never been there before and at first, they couldn't understand what all the fuzz about Alliance Base was.

"It looks like an ol' regular burocratic building to me, what do you think?" Callen asked Liz as the car drove into the courtyard, past the iron gates

"Same here…" She replied trying to figure out the truth behind that dull light gray, embassy-looking building

But just when their hopes for something new and unusual had started to fade, the car pulled over in front of the entrance door and all of a sudden they felt as if the earth was swallowing them.

"What's happening?" Liz asked

"I don't know! Do you think this was some kind of set up?" Callen suggested and without having to say anything else, both of them drew their guns out

As the car halted it's downwards journey, the driver opened the window that separated him from them and smiling said: "Welcome to Alliance Base, agents"

Liz and Callen exchanged quizzical looks and after putting their guns away, they exited the car, still acting suspicious and taken aback.

"That was… new…" Callen commented and Liz chuckled

"I'm glad to see you were not too scared and that you're laughing" A man with a basso raspy voice and heavy French accent said approaching to them "Welcome to Alliance Base, Agent Callen, Agent Hadley. My name is Bernard Sinclair and I'm the agency's director"

Liz smiled widely and Callen tried to hold it back as they both noticed the man's resemblance to Santa Claus.

"I hope you had a good trip, yes?" Bernard continued with their chat which had been up to that point more like a monologue

"Yes, thank you, Director Sinclair" Liz finally said "Although, we must admit the entrance was a bit…"

"Odd" Callen finished for her and she hit him the stomach, reprimanding him

"I must agree with agent Callen in this. We are so secretive this is the only way we thought our location would be secure" He explained

"Understandable" Liz simply said

"Since 9/11 every single counterterrorist agency became more self conscious and many people stopped trusting one another. In 2002, when we were created and when the DGSE…"

"DGSE?" Callen asked

"Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure" Liz answered

"Correct. When they appointed me as Alliance Base director I hesitated but I took the job either ways, hoping to help the world. Now, this situation is getting out of hand! We've lost 2 agents, one is missing. I don't think we had ever had a crisis like this before in a single case" Bernard lamented

"And what can we do for you, director Sinclair?" Callen questioned

"I hear you're one of the best undercover agents the United States has got"

"I don't know about that, sir"

"Oh, please, don't be modest! You were recommended by one of our best agents… agent Dubois herself!"

"Christianne… I mean, agent Dubois recommended me?"

"Oh, yes she did! She insisted on having you on the case"

Callen couldn't find the right words to continue talking. He was amazed by Bernard's declaration.

"Uhmm… director, I was reading in the file that you needed someone to go undercover and to find Commander Katani's headquarters, am I right?" Liz cut in trying to break the tension

"That is correct"

"So, are we both going… or just Callen?" She continued

"Neither… agent Callen is staying here. You are going to Kashmir" Bernard said and with that he headed towards his wood panelled office "Come, please"

Liz and Callen looked at each other utterly confused by this man's words.

"Then, sir… why did you want me to come as well?" Callen asked as they entered Bernard's fancy office

"I need you here, agent Callen. Let me explain, please, take a seat" He sat down behind his desk while Liz and Callen sat opposite to him "What I'm about to tell you… it should not leave this room but you need to know. There is a mole in the organization. That person is letting Katani know our every move, that's how we lost our agents"

"With all due respect, sir, you haven't answered my question" Callen said

"Yes, yes… agent Hadley will be sent to Kashmir. Her mission will be to lead us to Katani's headquarters and you, agent Callen; you will stay here to run the investigation of the agency. No one but myself knows the reason of your presence here, agent Callen. They know why agent Hadley is here but they don't know about you"

"So I will be doing undercover work" Callen deduced

"Yes, but it will be here, not in Kashmir" Bernard replied

"And… how do you propose I infiltrate into Katani's cell?" Liz asked

"You are not going to infiltrate. You are going to let them capture you"

* * *

Kashmir, present day…

"I couldn't believe how easy it was for us to capture your little friend here, agent DiNozzo… until my source inside A.B. told me" Katani bragged after he had let go of Liz's neck

"Yeah, Liz is not an easy catch… by the way, what did you say the name of the A.B. traitor was?" Tony asked casually

"Oh, well, it is…" Katani stopped and laughed along with Tony "You really thought I was going to…" He continued to laugh "You are funny, agent DiNozzo… I like you, I really do…"

"Then, if you like me so, why don't you tell me what your mole has told you?"

"Not much, to be honest… he's a coward… not like us, huh?" Katani replied playfully

"He hasn't told you anything important, has he? That's why you're so stressed out"

"That is a lie!" Katani shouted

"Oh, really? Then why have you been asking me nonstop about it?" Tony smiled triumphant

Mustafa muttered several things in French out of rage.

"I've never really asked. I've heard you speaking French several times and, although I've never been very good at it, I must say, you are quite fluent… where did you learn?" Tony asked

"I am an educated man, agent DiNozzo. That is one of the things I thrive for my people" Katani replied more calm now

"Where have I heard that? Oh, yes… must've been one of Mel Gibson's films… maybe Brave Heart… oh, no wait, that wasn't it… anyhow… your French, I must say, doesn't sound as if you had studied it for a while… it sounds more as if you had resided in a French speaking country…"

"Very clever, agent DiNozzo, very clever… and quite observant, just like your friend here…" Katani said looking at Liz "She also asked me about that…" He paused for a moment and leaned against his desk "You are right to think that, agent DiNozzo. I was born here in Kashmir but my parents decided it was best for us to live somewhere far from conflict so we moved to Paris"

"How convenient…"

"I think that too… that agent, the French one… agent Dubois…"

"What about her?"

"What do you know about her?"

"Not much… I had never met her before she became involved with the case"

"Why did she come to you?"

"Do you want me to be honest?" Tony asked with half a smile plastered on his face and Katani nodded "She came to make my life more miserable than it already was"

* * *

In D.C., a month an a half earlier…

Christianne explained Gibbs and the team the planned operation and Tony couldn't help to feel outraged when he heard what Liz's task would be.

"No! They can't do that! If they capture her, she'll die, just like the other 2 o3 agents!" He protested

"She's not only going to help us find Katani's lair but we are hoping to find agent Beaufort alive besides, she'll be taking a satellite phone with her and we'll be able to track her with it" Christianne said trying to be comforting

"And that is supposed to soothe me?"

"It is her duty, agent DiNozzo. She chose to do it. Nobody forced her" Christianne said more seriously

"This is insane!" He exclaimed and stormed out of the bullpen

Gibbs didn't say a word and followed his agent into the elevator. Once inside, Tony knew what was coming.

The 'emergency' button.

"What's the matter with you, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked also upset

"What is the matter with me? What is the matter with you?"

"I'm sorry?" The senior asked incredulous

"Yes! How can you let them use Liz as bait? How could you let her go? How can you be ok with this?"

"Because Christianne said it: it is her duty, she chose to do it!" Gibbs replied in the same infuriated tone "And I never said I was ok with it" Tony tilted his head in confusion "Yesterday, when I told Liz she had to go on a mission I didn't know what it was about! If I had known…"

"You wouldn't have let her go…" Tony completed and Gibbs shook his head "Now what?"

"Nothing, DiNozzo…"

"What? But…"

"There's nothing we can do. At least not now… We have no inference in A.B. and she is in a way, going in behalf of the SAS, Callen is the one who is going in behalf of NCIS"

"So that's it? We just… sit here and wait until we get bad news? Until they've informed us of her… death?" Tony felt like choking as he said that

"No… we do our job and try to help Liz throughout it and if the time comes for us to intervene, then… we'll do it"

Tony nodded, not so sure about the grandness of the plan but it was the only one they had and he trusted Gibbs enough to put Liz's life in his hands.

Outside the elevator, while Tony and Gibbs talked…

"Agent DiNozzo is very attached to agent Hadley, isn't he?" Christianne asked

"He is. They are very close… friends…" McGee hesitated at the word

"Do I sense some doubt, agent McGee?"

"No, not at all!" He rushed to say

"Maybe I shouldn't have said anything about the mission… yet… or in a different way…" Christianne said

"No, it was… good… you did what you had to do" Ziva said

"Chris? Hell yes! I thought I'd heard your voice!" Sam exclaimed rushing to where Christianne was standing

"Sam!" She replied as he hugged her so hard he lifted her from the ground "I thought you weren't coming until tomorrow!"

"Nah, I decided to hit the road with Cal--- sorry…" He cut himself off

"It's alright, Sam, you can say his name in my presence" Chris joked but her friend noticed the sadness in her eyes

"Is that why you hadn't contacted me? Because of…"

"I'm ashamed to say it but… yes… I'm so sorry, Sam… it just… it hurts"

Before Sam could say anything else, Ziva cleared her throat as a reminder of her and McGee's presence.

"We'll talk later…" She said and Sam nodded

"You know each other?" McGee asked

"Yeah… I met her when she was attending a conference in West Point many years ago…" Sam explained

"West Point? Really? You have military training?" Ziva asked Chris

"Not much. Enough to survive" The French agent replied "And by the way, you made me feel old when you said 'many years ago'" Chris joked and they laughed

Tony and Gibbs exited the elevator and saw them laughing and chatting.

"Gibbs, Abby and I found something" Sam announced and handed him a piece of paper "Apparently the largest order of oil that has been made recently was in Lahore, Pakistan and after that, it disappeared"

"When?"

"Two weeks ago but, whoever is making the orders, apparently doesn't use electricity. The orders are immense and they run out of oil in a little over 1 month" Sam explained

"So…" Chris said expectantly

"So, there will be a new order made in less than a month an a half and maybe that's how we can get to Katani" Ziva concluded

* * *

**Dangerous!!! **

**Anyways... hope you're liking it and thank you so much for reading!!!**

**Koo Koo Kah Choo! xoxo**


	6. Chapter 5: Lord Voldemort

**Hello, my children!!! Sorry I didn't update yesterday... one of my kitties died so I was feeling quite down...  
But I'm back now...  
**

**Usual disclaimers, blu bli blu... whatever... :)**

**Enjoy!!!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 5**

In Lyon, Liz was getting ready to start the mission. Selecting weapons, gear and everything else she might need.

"Kashmir is located very near to the Himalayas; do you know how to climb?" Callen asked

"First of all, I know exactly where Kashmir is and second, I got an A+ at climbing in the academy, thank you very much" Liz replied with sarcasm and made him laugh

"Ok, ok, I got it…" And then he noticed she was acting strange "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, of course… why wouldn't I?" She asked hastily

"You are nervous, aren't you?" He questioned and she exhaled

"Is it that obvious?"

"But only a little… is there something worrying you?"

"I don't know… I just… I have a bad feeling about this…"

"What do you mean?"

"I… I'm not sure… this whole operation sounds…"

"Strange" He completed for her

"Do you feel it too?" She asked and he nodded "Why can't someone like Internal Affairs take care of the mole? And when have you heard the plan of getting caught? I don't know… I don't trust director Sinclair"

"No, me neither but there's nothing we can do, at least not at the moment…"

"I think there is…" She said and took her cell phone out and speed dialled

"Who are you calling?" Callen asked

"You'll see…" She replied smiling "Hello, Ziva"

"Hey, Liz! How's France?" Ziva asked

"Nice but I wish I was there and not here, to be honest"

"Is something wrong?"

"Not really…" She hesitated "Is Gibbs around?"

"Yes, he's here… Gibbs, it's Liz" Liz heard Ziva said

"Liz, how are you?" Gibbs asked taking the phone

"I'm fine, Gibbs, thanks for asking… but I need to ask you a favour"

"Tell me"

"This is completely unofficial and I would like to ask you not to tell Vance. You can tell Tony and the others but no one outside the NCIS team can know…" She warned

"And what about agent Dubois?" Gibbs whispered

"No, she can't know either…"

"What is it?"

"I need you to run an investigation on Bernard Sinclair. He's the director of Alliance Base"

"That sounds bad, Liz…"

"I don't know yet, Gibbs but Callen agrees with me and since he's staying here, he's gonna need all the help you can give him…" Liz said and Callen mocked her making her laugh

"I assume he heard you…" Gibbs said hearing her laugh "You can count on it, Liz"

"Thanks, Gibbs…"

"About your part of the mission…" He started

"I know what you're gonna say and, even when I actually agree with you, I don't have any other option, do I?" She said

"That's what I told Tony"

"What did he say? About the mission, I mean"

"He doesn't agree. He thinks they are sending you straight to the slaughter house"

"And you?"

"I agree with him, although I trust your abilities…"

"The truth, Gibbs…"

"We are investigating the location of Katani's lair just in case…" He said

"Just in case?" Liz asked chuckling

"Yes and even though we can't stop you from going and let his men capture you I need to ask you to be extra careful" Gibbs said with concern

"I always am, Gibbs, you don't need to say it"

"No, I do, Liz. You're putting your life at stake here and we're letting you do it. I need to know you'll hang in there and resist as much as you can until we can get you back"

"What are you saying, Gibbs? That you're gonna disobey direct orders from Alliance Base, the SAS and NCIS?"

"Maybe… just promise me that, ok?"

"Ok, Gibbs, I promise" Liz said

"Thank you…"

"Uhmm, Gibbs, is Tony there?"

"Yes, DiNozzo!" Gibbs called

"Yes, boss" Tony said

"You've got a call" Gibbs said and handed him the phone

"Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo" He said and Liz smiled

"Hey…" She softly replied

"Hey!" Tony repeated surprised and happy to hear her voice but serious because of their fight earlier that day. He gave his back to the team and talked lower "How are you?"

"Nervous… Gibbs told me what you think of the mission"

"It's boloney, that's what it is!"

"I agree with you on that one…" She said exhaling as she ran a hand through her hair and gave a few steps away from Callen "Tony… about this morning…"

"Liz… I shouldn't have said what I said but… I was trying to prevent what you're getting into today…"

"I know and I thank you but… this is a decision I have to make on my own"

"You see? That's the problem! You're so closed off you don't want to share your problems with me!"

"I'm trying to do the right thing, Tony…"

"And what about me? Don't I have any saying on that?"

"I don't know, Tony… I'm not sure…"

"You're not sure about this decision or you're not sure about us?"

"I never said that, Tony"

"No, but you've made it oh so clear"

"What are you talking about?"

"This morning, before you left… with Callen"

"WHAT?!" You're completely out of line, Tony. I've had it with you stupid jealousy and immature attitude! I wanted to talk to you to apologize, to try to fix things but now I see it's just a waste of my time. Goodbye, Tony" She said and hung up

"Wait, Liz!" Tony called but she was gone "Damn it!" He exclaimed and slammed the phone down. As he turned around he noticed that Ziva, McGee, Sam and Christianne were staring at him "Don't you have work to do?!" And then he walked away

"Is everything ok?" Callen asked Liz as she hung up

"Does it look like it?"

"No, not really…"

"I'm sorry, Cal… I don't wanna talk about it…"

"No problem"

Liz smiled weakly at her friend and walked away. Meanwhile, Callen took his cell phone out and called Sam.

"Hey, G! What's up?" Sam answered

"I'm sure you'll know in no time…" Callen said watching at Liz walking away and then gave his back at her "Is you-know-who there yet?"

"You-know-who? What? Are you hiding from Lord Voldemort?" Sam joked wholeheartedly

"I'm serious, Sam! Is she there?"

"Yes, she is… she arrived about 2 hours ago… why? Wanna talk to her?"

"Yeah, right… like she's gonna take my call"

"She might…"

"Who might what?" Christianne asked Sam from behind him and making him jump

"Uhmm… nothing, Chris… just talking to a friend" Sam lied

"Is that her?" Callen asked

"What do you think?" Sam gritted his teeth

"Well, tell your 'friend' to start working and to let you do your work" Christianne said

"What do you mean?" Sam asked

"What I mean is that your friends or at least one of them has the tendency of wasting people's time" She replied and walked away

"What?" Callen asked insulted "Put her on the phone!"

"Are you insane? I want to live, thank you very much"

"Sam…"

"Argh… alright…" Sam replied and approached to Christianne "Uhmm… Chris…" He extended the phone in her direction "For you…"

"I am not taking it, Sam" She said seriously

"Oh, c'mon, people, don't put me in the middle of your issues!" He exclaimed

"Ok, then…" Christianne gave in and took the phone "Yes…?"

"Yes? Aren't you going to say hello?" Callen said trying to lighten the mood of the conversation

"What do you want, Callen? I'm very busy at the moment" She questioned in the same dry tone

"I just… I wanted to… say… I wanted to say… what I wanted to say was…"

"You've got 10 seconds, Callen and then I'll give the phone back to Sam" She warned

"What? Ok, ok… I just wanted to say… hi, yes, hi…" Callen hurriedly replied and smacked the palm of his hand against his forehead in frustration

"Ok, hi to you too. Goodbye" She said and handed the phone to Sam

"No, wait!" Callen shouted with no avail "Damn it!"

"So… it went ok, huh?" Sam asked

"You think?" Callen replied with irony

"Why did you want to talk to her anyways, G? You knew what her reaction would be"

"I… I wanted to thank her…"

"Thank her? For what?"

"She recommended me for this operation, Sam. She told her bosses I'm the best undercover agent she has ever met…"

"Oh…" Sam said and then repeated with acknowledge "Oh! That… doesn't sound all that good to me…"

"What do you mean?"

"Well… she doesn't really like you all that much, G… maybe she put you up for this whole op to… put you in some kind of danger… or something?" Sam hesitated

"She doesn't really like me all that much? Why don't you just say she hates me?"

"She doesn't hate you, G"

"Yeah, right…" Callen rolled his eyes

"Cal! We have to go!" Liz called

"Yes! Look, Sam, I gotta go. Keep me updated on anything you find out…"

"About…?"

"About everything…"

"Sure will, G and take care of yourself and Liz. We are all worried about her" Sam said

"I know… I'll keep both of my eyes on her" Callen said "And Sam..."

"Yes?"

"Stop reading Harry Potter" G said chuckling and hung up

After catching up with Liz, they walked silently towards the operation room to discuss the last details of the plan with director Sinclair.

A while later, they were taken to a private hangar where a C-130 Hercules aircraft was waiting for Liz to take her to her destination.

Once there, while director Sinclair talked to one of the soldiers who would accompany Liz during the flight, Callen and Liz said their goodbyes.

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" He asked

"No, I am not, but like I said: I don't have any other choice…" She replied and he rolled his eyes "Please, Cal, don't do this… I can't take it from anyone else…"

"DiNozzo?"

"Yes… Everything is so wrong and confusing and I didn't get the chance to fix things with him and now… God knows if I'm ever coming back…"

"You are, Liz. I know you, Gibbs knows you and even if it hurts his pride, Tony knows you and we all know you are coming back…"

"I hope you're right, Cal…" Liz said and then looked around, not wanting anyone to hear them "I hadn't had the chance to tell you but Gibbs and the team are working on a separate investigation, just in case…"

"Just in case?"

"That's exactly what I asked Gibbs… he fears I might not be able to get out of there alive, I know it. He didn't say it like that but I know he fears it and so do I…"

* * *

While they talked, director Sinclair gave a few 'off the record' instructions to one of the men who were going with Liz.

"**Vous voulez faire de votre pays une faveur, caporal?** _(You want to do your country a favour, corporal?)_" Sinclair asked the very young soldier who nodded at his superior "**Bien. Tout ce que vous avez à faire est...** _(Good. All you have to do is…)_" He whispered something to the kid who looked at him in shock and shook his head

"**Je ne peux pas faire ça,** **directeur** _(I can't do that, director)_"

"**Bien sûr vous pouvez, garçon** _(Of course you can, boy)_" The rubicund man assured patting the soldier's shoulder twice "**Sauf si vous voulez que votre carrière militaire pour mettre fin avant qu'il n'ait commencé** _(Unless you want your military career to end before it has started)_" The young corporal looked at the director wide-eyed and shook his head furiously "**Je ne le pense pas** _(I didn't think so…)_" Sinclair finished with a smile and walked towards Callen and Liz

* * *

"Does agent Dubois know about Gibbs' plan B?" Callen asked

"Maybe, I don't really know… what she doesn't know is about Sinclair… keep an eye on him, Cal. I don't trust him…"

"Neither do I…" He agreed and they both saw how Sinclair talked to one of the corporals

"Can we trust agent Dubois?" Liz suddenly asked

"Why do you ask?"

"Because, if our suspicions are correct, we're gonna need her support"

"You mean, if Sinclair is…"

"Yes, if he is who we think he is…"

"I think we could trust her, yes… "

"You don't sound too convinced"

"No, I am but you have to remember she owes her loyalty to Alliance Base not NCIS or SAS"

"Alliance Base is a relatively new agency, where did she use to work before becoming an A.B. agent?"

"French military intelligence… Direction du Renseignement Militaire »

"I see... could you talk to her? Maybe she could get us some information on Sinclair" Liz asked

"I'll try" Callen replied

"Agent Hadley, we're ready" Bernard Sinclair called from the entrance of the huge aircraft and the 2 agents rushed towards him "Don't worry, agent Hadley, we've got your back" The director reassured

"I bet that's what you told Roberts, Weston and Beaufort before they got into one of these" Callen said and Sinclair laughed awkwardly walking away from the plane "It's gonna be ok, Liz. Do you have your satellite phone?" She nodded and looked around nervously. Callen took her hand and squeezed it comfortingly "Don't worry, Liz, if they haven't got your back, we've got it. Don't forget about the…" He went silent as he pointed her ear

"I know, Cal. Thanks" She said and hugged her friend. She then handed her go-bag to one of the soldiers inside the plane and started walking into it but stopped "Cal!" She ran back to him "If… if I don't… if I don't make it… tell Gibbs he has been the only father figure I've known for the past 10 years…" Callen nodded and Liz continued "And tell Tony… tell him that I'm sorry… and… and that's it…"

"Will do, Liz. Take care"

Liz nodded and after smiling weakly at Callen, she rushed back into the plane.

As the immense back door closed, she could see the concern in Callen's eyes and just as the door made a deafening sealing noise, her heart starting pounding its way out of her chest.

"I love you, Tony…" She whispered closing her eyes as the plane took off

* * *

**Wooooooooooooooooooo!**

**Ok, people, please, keep reading and thanks to the ones who have! MWAH!**  
**Gotta run!**

**Koo Koo Kah Choo! xoxo**


	7. Chapter 6: Wonderland

**Oh, my children! I owe you a huge apology for not posting for I think 5 days! I was computerless for 3 days and then I had so much catching up to do when I got it back, I completely forgot about posting... *blushes in shame*  
But I'm back and that's what matters, right? RIGHT!!! ;)**

**Usual disclaimers... blu bli blu... :D**

**Enjoy!!!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 6**

"Is she gone?" Gibbs asked Callen who had called him 3 hours after Liz's plane had taken off

"Yes. She'd kill me if she knew I'm saying this, Gibbs but she was scared. I don't think I've ever seen her so scared in all the years I've known her" Callen replied honestly

"I know, Callen… I fear for her. We all do but now, all we can do is wait and do what she asked: investigate Sinclair"

"Continue with the investigation on the oil orders, Gibbs. It may be our only chance" Callen said

"We will, Callen. I'll call you tomorrow to see if you've heard from her"

Callen agreed and hung up the phone. He then walked to Sinclair's office only to find him talking to someone in French with a very upset tone but interrupted the conversation as soon as he noticed Callen's presence.

"**Je vais vous rappeler plus tard** _(I'll call you later)_" The director hastily said and hung up his phone "Agent Callen! I thought you'd be in the room we assigned for you, resting"

"I don't sleep much, director… any news on agent Hadley's plane?" Callen questioned

"Oh, yes, yes… the pilot just called and informed me they were just flying over Tbilisi, Georgia. Remember it is a 7 hour flight to New Delhi and then she'll be taken to the border with Kashmir. We'll hear from her before she leaves India" Sinclair explained checking his watch several times

"That call… may I ask: who was it?" Callen said

"Oh, that?" Sinclair asked pointing at the phone and starting sweating like a pig "That was… my wife… she wanted to know if I'd make it home for breakfast"

'He's lying' Callen thought

"Where are my manners? Please, sit down, agent Callen. Can I offer you something to drink? Some cognac, perhaps?" Sinclair said standing up and walking to a wooden table at the other end of the office covered with many liqueur bottles

"Sure… why not?" Callen replied walking to the 2 dark brown leather upholstered wing chairs that were in front of the roaring fireplace

"Have you… known agent Hadley for long?" Sinclair asked as he poured the copper coloured liquid on the glasses

"Long enough… almost 10 years…" Callen answered sitting down and looking around, analyzing his surroundings

The whole office was covered with wood panels, the floor, also wooden, was partially covered by a beautiful green Persian rug and many antiques and art work decorated the place.

One of the things that caught Callen's attention was the mirror that hung above the fireplace.

The golden intricate carving of the material surrounded the clearest silver mirror Callen had ever seen. Everything looked opulent, luxurious and most importantly, expensive.

"So, you must be very good friends" Sinclair continued his interrogation still giving his back at Callen

"Very"

"That's nice. When agents fraternize amongst each other. There you go…" Sinclair said finally joining Callen and handing him one of the glasses "And agent Gibbs?" He sat opposite to Callen

"I've known him longer than that…"

"I see… and… agent Dubois?"

Callen narrowed his eyes at the tone of his French superior. Did he know something he wasn't supposed to know?

"I met her a few years ago… during an assignment in Spain"

"Before she was one of us?" Sinclair said obviously referring to Alliance Base

"Yes, not long, though, I believe"

"Do you have any idea why she recommended you for this job?" Callen shook his head slightly, still not drinking from his glass "She kept repeating you were the best and that we were fools if we didn't ask you to come…"

"Is that all she said?"

"Yes… when I asked her how the 2 of you had met she gave me the exact same explanation you just gave me"

"I see…"

"C'mon, boy! I was expecting some details about how you met her" Sinclair insisted more casually as Callen remained silent

"I don't tend to discuss the details of my missions with anyone…" Callen replied seriously

"You haven't drunk from your glass" Sinclair pointed out

"Neither have you, director…"

"Very smart, agent Callen… and tell me, do you tend to discuss the details of your personal life?" The ruddy director seemed to feel more confident

Callen, noticing the change in Sinclair's demeanour, stood up and drank the full content of the glass in a single gulp.

"Thank you for the drink, director. Good night" Callen said, turned around, placed the now empty glass on top of the desk and exited the office

Bernard Sinclair moved his glass of cognac, brought it up to his nose and after sniffing it a couple of times, he threw it into the fire.

He then pulled his cell phone out and speed dialled 3.

"**Oui?** (_Yes?)_" The man at the other end answered

"**L'agent britannique est sur le chemin** _(The British agent is on her way)_" Sinclair informed and immediately cut the call off

* * *

"Have you heard from Liz, boss?" Tony asked

"Not directly from her, DiNozzo but Callen called about an hour ago and told me she was already on her way to India" Gibbs replied

"Will she call us once she gets there?"

"I don't think so, DiNozzo. She's gonna call Callen the moment she leaves to Kashmir and then…"

"Nothing…" Tony completed

"Why don't you go and see Abby to see what's she's got?" Gibbs suggested quite concerned about Tony's emotional state "And take agent Dubois with you. She hasn't met Abs"

"Sure… why not? Come with me, agent Dubois…" Tony said standing up and dragging his feet towards the elevator

"I'm going? Where?" Christianne asked enthusiastically as she stood up and followed Tony

"To Wonderland…" Tony replied not so excited as their guest

"So, agent DiNozzo…" Christianne started

"Call me Tony… or Anthony or the biggest idiot on the planet…" He interrupted leaning his head on the steel wall

"I think I'm gonna call you Tony… I don't think the last one suits you" She said amused

"Oh, but you are so young and there are many things you are yet to know about… life… and… love… and… life… and… love…" He kept repeating

"Such as…?"

"Such as… trying not to open your mouth before thinking"

"Have I said something…?"

"Oh, no, no, of course not… I wasn't… I didn't mean you, precisely… I was talking about…"

"About yourself?"

"Take an educated guess…"

"Well, as 'educatedly' as I can possibly guess…" Christianne started

"Politely" Tony interrupted her

"Sorry?"

"Politely, not… educatedly…" His voiced trailed off noticing her stare "Go on…"

"Thank you… like I was saying… I may not be as old as you are…"

"Hey!" Tony protested

"Do you ever shut up?" She asked and he nodded "Thank you… I do happen to know some things about love… and broken hearts and… opening your mouth before thinking…"

"How come?"

"Well… about 3 years ago I met a man with whom I fell madly in love… I made the mistake of trusting him and… I told him I loved him before I even gave him the chance to do it himself…"

"He didn't say it back…" Tony erroneously deduced

"No, he did say it…"

"So…" He raised his eyebrows not understanding the message of her story

"What I'm trying to say is that he was lying but if I hadn't opened my mouth and heart to him, I would've never believed him and my heart would've never been broken… I forced him to lie to me about his feelings because I didn't think" Christianne honestly explained

"Oh… I see… and what did you do after that?" Tony questioned

"I tried to kill him" She simply replied with an innocent smile

Tony's eyes widened to the size of dishes and inconspicuously gave a couple of small steps away from her.

"You were talking about agent Hadley, weren't you?" She asked after a while in silence

"Do you know her?"

"I met her once… lovely, likable woman… have you 2 been dating for long?"

"Six months…" And then he covered his mouth

"I won't tell anyone, I promise"

"Thanks… uhmm… about that guy you were talking about a moment ago… did you…?"

"Kill him? No… but I'm planning on doing it as soon as he comes back…"

"Do I know him?"

"Yes, you do… and believe me; he feels nothing for agent Hadley…"

"What do you mean?"

"I have the feeling you are… jealous of their friendship…"

"You have the feeling or a certain huge ex SEAL birdie told you?" Tony snapped back with sarcasm making Christianne laugh

"Alright, Sam told me about what happened this morning between you and Callen… but that's besides the point… you are going to be able to talk to her and to let her know everything you feel" She replied

"I hope so…" Tony said and tried to smile but then lost his smile as he acknowledged something "Wait a second… you and Callen?!"

Christianne laughed as Tony yelled that at the top of his lungs while the elevator doors opened and they were immediately interrupted by Abby.

"Anthony DiNozzo! How come no one has had the nerve of informing me about Liz's whereabouts?" Abby shouted at him and noticed Christianne "Oh… hi… I don't know you…"

"No, you don't…" Christianne said and looked at Tony

"Oh, right… Abby, this is Alliance Base agent Christianne M. Dubois… what does the M stand for?" He interrupted himself

"Michelle, why?"

"Nothing in particular…" Tony shrugged remembering Liz "Chris, this our very efficient forensic goddess Abby Sciuto"

"Nice to meet you, Abby" Christianne greeted with a smile

"Nice to meet you too, Christianne… agent Dubois… oh, shoot, there are so many guests today I'm about to throw protocol out the window" Abby complained

"Abby, that protocol has been out the window for a very long time" Tony said

"You're right… ok… so… Sam and I were working earlier on the oil shipments, right? Well, I found something else: this oil is very special… it not only works for lighting up… you know, spaces and rooms and that but… this particular oil is scented!" Abby exclaimed

"Oh, no, Abs… you mean… we are after some gay terrorists?" Tony joked and Abby slapped him in the back of the head "Ok, I deserved that one"

"And why is that relevant?" Christianne asked

"Because, I was doing some research and I found on the internet that the only place you can find scented oil for lamps is…"

"France…" Tony concluded and took his phone out "I'll be back in a minute" He said and walked out of the lab "Boss"

"Yes, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked at the other end

"The oil Katani uses. They make it in France"

"So?"

"So… boss, the mole inside Alliance Base is not only tipping Katani and his men about their operations but he is also supplying them with the most exclusive merchandise! It has got to be someone powerful, not a mere office clerk! It has got to be an agent or a high functionary such as…"

"The director… DiNozzo, is Christianne still with you?"

"Yes, why?"

"Liz and Callen asked me to run an investigation on the director of Alliance Base. They suspect he could be the mole and I said we would do it but we can't let Christianne know, at least not for now. She is loyal to them and if we tell her…"

"She might let her boss know… what do you want me to do?" Tony asked

"Keep her entertained while McGee types away. I don't want to see her up here in at least an hour, is that clear, DiNozzo?"

"How do you suggest I do that?"

"Use your imagination, very special agent DiNozzo" Gibbs said and hung up

Tony glared at his phone and shut it. He then leaned to one side, peeking into the lab, seeing Christianne and Abby already bonding.

"Easier said than done…" He mumbled before re-entering

* * *

**Uuuuuu mysterious Director Sinclair... _**

**Sooooooo... thank you so much for your patience and for reading and all that!**

**See you all very soon for the next chapter! ;)**

**Koo Koo Kah Choo! xoxo**


	8. Chapter 7: I Feel Appreciated

**Hello, children!**

**I'm in a bit of a rush so no pre-chapter talking today... just the disclaimers, blu bli blu...**

**Enjoy!!!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 7**

At the same time, as the C-130 flew over Turkmenistan, Liz had fallen asleep trying to be as rested as possible without knowing that right after landing, her misery would only be starting.

Three hours later, the plane landed and one of the corporals woke her up.

"Agent Hadley, we're in New Delhi" He announced and she opened her eyes immediately

"Good" Was all she managed to say

In total silence, she and the 3 soldiers that accompanied exited the military aircraft and got into a Jeep that had been strategically placed there for their arrival.

Once they were on their way to the border, Liz called Gibbs.

"Yeah, Gibbs" He said answering his phone

"Hey" She greeted

"Liz. Where are you?" Gibbs said and Tony rushed to his boss' desk

"I'm in New Delhi, on my way to the border with Jammu"

"Are you alright? Did you sleep some?"

"Yes, Gibbs, a little bit… have you got anything on our man?" She asked not wanting to mention the director's name in front of the 3 corporals

"Nothing yet, at least nothing suspicious…"

"Check his bank accounts" Liz suggested

"McGee's already done that. Everything is normal"

"It doesn't sound normal to me, Gibbs. Have you checked if he has any encrypted account? Maybe outside of France"

"We'll check on that, Liz" Gibbs replied "Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yes, Gibbs… I am sure… just a bit tired but I suppose it is normal… I've spent 20 hours on airplanes out of 24" Her voice gave away something more than just tiredness

"Don't be afraid, Liz… nothing's gonna happen to you" He reassured

"I… I know, Gibbs…"

"You can still come back"

"No, Gibbs… I can't…" She said with sadness as the communication started failing "Gibbs? Gibbs, can you hear me?"

"Yes, Liz, I can… Liz? Liz!"

"I love you, Gibbs" Liz said before the static would've covered Gibbs' voice completely

"Liz! Liz!" Gibbs called without any use. He looked at Tony and shook his head

"Is she alright?" Tony asked

"Apparently… she's on her way to Kashmir…" Gibbs replied and Tony nodded in acceptance

* * *

After driving for almost 4 more hours, the corporal that was driving halted the vehicle.

"Is it here?" Liz asked a bit confused

"Yes, agent Hadley" The driver replied

"But this is Pathankot, I saw the sign a few miles behind us! We still have to cross Jammu to get to Kashmir!" Liz exclaimed

"We know, ma'am, but we cannot cross. You come as a civilian, we, as soldiers, can't cross the border into a country in conflict" He explained

Liz opened the door and stepped out of the car as did 2 of the 3 corporals.

The sky was clear, blue and cloudless but the wind was about to reach the freezing point. Feeling it, she wrapped her jacket tighter around her body and gave a few steps away from the Jeep followed by the 2 corporals.

Meanwhile, inside the Jeep, the third soldier, the one director Sinclair hat talked to before leaving Lyon dug carefully into Liz's backpack and reached for the satellite phone. He pulled it out and after turning it off he hid it under one of the seats. That had been what Sinclair had commanded him to do.

"Are you sure about this, agent?" One of the corporals asked Liz who had memorized the map of the region while on the plane

"I am, soldier… thank you so much for coming with me all this way… have a safe journey home" She replied trying her best to smile

"You too, ma'am" The other one said as the other rushed to the Jeep and took her backpack and after saluting her (She was after all a member of the British army and had a higher rank than both of them) returned to the Jeep

She saw how they drove away, leaving her all alone to face the unknown and still far enemy.

For the next few hours, she walked to the north and entered Jammu without any trouble. She kept trying to figure out how Katani's men could find her and capture her and hopefully, with the tracking device Callen had secretly given her, which she now had in the back of her ear, hidden, discover the secret location of Katani's lair.

After a while, she stopped in a small restaurant next to the road and decided it was time to call Callen but as she went through her bag she was shocked by the absence of her satellite phone.

"What the…? Oh, dear…" She said to herself and then approached to the old man who sat behind the stand "Excuse me…" The man barely looked up "Could I use your phone?" She asked mimicking as if she was talking on the phone "I can pay you… American dollars" She said and the man nodded towards an equally old phone booth at the farthest end of the place "Thank you"

She dialled directly to Callen's cell phone and after 3 attempts, she made it.

"Yes" Callen answered

"Cal! It's me"

"Liz! Gibbs called me a few hours ago telling me you were on your way to Kashmir…"

"Cal, I can't talk much. My phone is gone"

"What do you mean 'gone'?"

"It's not in my bag and I can't find it anywhere near. I'm at a small town near Akhnur in some place that resembles a restaurant. They let me use their phone but I don't know if I'll be that lucky again" Liz explained

"Akhnur…" Callen said and stood up to check the map in front of him "You're very near the Pakistani controlled part of Kashmir. It won't be long before Katani's men locate you…"

"I know… look, Callen… the phone… I think one of the corporals must've taken it… probably the one Sinclair was talking to before I left… this is all very strange"

"Yes, I agree…"

"I have to go, Cal… please, tell Gibbs I'm ok"

"Yes, Liz… be careful, please…"

Liz couldn't say anything else and the communication was cut. She hung up the phone and leaned her head against it.

"This is a mistake already…"

She sighed and walked out the phone booth only to find that the restaurant, in which only a couple of tables were occupied, was now full of men that wore military uniforms and red bandanas in their heads. They were heavily armed and all of them (approximately 15 men) looked at Liz menacingly, pointing their weapons at her.

"What is your name?" One of them asked with a strong Urdu accent

"Elizabeth Hadley" She replied

"یہ ہے**. **ان کا ہے**! **_(It is her. Take her!)_" The same man commanded and 2 other approached to Liz, grabbed her by the arms and led her out of the establishment

She remained silent as they loaded her into an old desert Hummer, tied her hands and started driving away.

* * *

2 hours later, she reached up to her ear and pressed the tracking device.

It immediately started sending a signal to Callen's cell phone and he called Gibbs to let him know.

"They've got her" He told Gibbs

"Have you got her signal?"

"Yes"

"Good. Send it to McGee"

Callen agreed and after hanging up, sent Liz's signal to McGee's computer in D.C.

"Have you heard something from agent Hadley, agent Callen? We've lost track of her satellite phone signal" Sinclair said sounding as worried as he possibly could

"No, director… nothing" Callen lied

"It would be a pity to lose an agent such as her… but don't worry boy, we'll find her…" The director forcedly comforted Callen who just rolled his eyes

* * *

In D.C., Tony felt like he was losing his mind for not knowing anything from Liz in over 24 hours. He tried to work but he couldn't, he then tried to pull some pranks on McGee but he couldn't, he tried to eat but he couldn't. Everything seemed impossible for him.

"Tony… Tony… DiNozzo!" Sam called

"On it, boss!" Tony instinctively replied starting to 'type' but stopped as he realized who it was "Oh… Sam…"

"Yes but thank you for calling me boss, I feel appreciated" Sam joked chuckling

"Ha-ha, very funny… what do you want?"

"I… well… I just…" Sam looked at Abby's direction, who was hiding behind one of the panels that surrounded McGee's desk

"Abby sent you" Tony deduced

"Yeah… she's worried… she says you haven't visited her in over a day"

"And she sent you?"

"Well, you're not taking anyone's calls and I don't always have the time to come up here and check on my children!" Abby shouted from the distance

"I'm fine, Abby, seriously" Tony said

"You're worried about Liz; we all are, Tony but you'll see, she's fine! She's a toughie" Sam comforted

"Yeah, I know…" Tony said and exhaled with sadness

* * *

Meanwhile, in Kashmir, the group of men who had taken Liz prisoner had been driving for the whole night and about half an hour before daybreak, the 5 Hummer convoy stopped.

The men got out of the car and dragged Liz along with them.

With the dim, poor Sun light she was able to see they were a vast valley covered in snow. From afar she could distinguish a mountain 'Nanga Parbat' she thought of the name of the mountain.

A freezing wind surrounded them as the snow deafened their steps.

They walked for a little while as the Sun kept rising. Her optimism took the best of her and thought that the plan might actually work but it was then when everything started getting worse.

"انہوں نے نہیں دیکھا جس طرح _(She must not see the way)_" The man who seemed to be in charge said "اس ڈھاکنا کا سامنا ہے**! **_(Cover her face!)_" He commanded

Liz didn't understand what they were saying but suddenly, one of the men pulled her by the hair and tried to put a woollen sack over her head and face but she wasn't gonna let them. She kicked and punched but she was outnumbered and she was extremely tired and they subdued her easily. One of them hit her on one side of the head leaving her practically unconscious but also, damaging the tracking device she hid behind her ear.

They managed to put the sack over her head and carried her to where an old brown pick up truck was waiting for them. Only the man in charge and another one rode with her to their final destination.

After driving for almost 2 hours, Liz felt how they pulled over once more.

She was dragged out of the truck where she felt colder than before and moments later, she felt how they went into a building and the cold ceased.

"اس سے مجھے**! **_(Bring her to me!)_" She heard a different male voice called from the distance and she noticed how every sound that was made echoed around them

The men who were dragging her took her to a different room. A room that felt very warm compared to the rest of the building and then, the floor wasn't cold and damp anymore. It was soft and fluffy, like a rug.

They released their grip on her arms and removed the sack from her head. The light blinded Liz for a moment and it took her some seconds to grow accustomed to it.

"Welcome to my humble home, agent Hadley" A man with an accent Liz had never heard before spoke "I trust your journey was pleasurable"

"Not really…" Liz's voice came out hoarser than she would've liked "Where am I?"

"You are in my headquarters, agent Hadley… you can be pleased with yourself…"

"And why is that?" She asked as she felt some liquid running down her neck; it was blood

"Because you have found my 'hiding place'" The man laughed; his big brown eyes glistening with satisfaction and even in the dark place, she could distinguish the dark tan tone of his skin. He wore a similar uniform than the rest of his men only that it seemed newer, more expensive and he was not wearing the red bandana

"Who are you?" Liz questioned feeling queasy

"Where are my manners, agent Hadley? My name is Katani; Commander Mustafa Katani"

* * *

**Too ree roo ree... ^_^**

**Anyways, thank you so much for reading!!! I love you all! MWAH!!!**

**Koo Koo Kah Choo! xoxo**


	9. Chapter 8: What Took You So Long?

**Enjoy!!!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 8**

"Uhmm… boss, we have a problem" McGee announced staring at his screen

"What is it, McGee?" Gibbs asked rushing to his agent's desk

Ziva, Tony, Sam and Christianne were all there and stopped talking waiting for McGee to give them the bad news and all Tony could think about was some gruesome tabloid picture of Liz's dead body found in Pakistan.

"We've lost the signal from Liz's device" He finally said

"What?! What do you mean?" Tony exclaimed outraged

Gibbs didn't waste time and called Callen immediately "Callen, what happened? We lost Liz's signal"

"I know, Gibbs, so did I" Callen said

"Ask them to connect you to MTAC" Gibbs said and hung up the phone "Sam, DiNozzo, Ziva, come with me"

He walked past Christianne and she looked at him confused.

"Excuse me, agent Gibbs" She said as he had started to climb the stairs "Shouldn't I go too? I mean, I'm part of this mission after all, aren't I?"

Gibbs said nothing and kept walking followed by the 3 agents. Sam shrugged at Christianne who looked at Gibbs as if he had just insulted her.

"McGee, do you know why I can't go?" She asked

"Nope… not a clue…" McGee lied. Of course he knew. They were going to talk to Callen about Sinclair's possible involvement in Liz's disappearance

Christianne, not fully convinced sat on Tony's desk and called her office in Alliance Base.

"**Bonne journée, vous appelez le bureau de l'agent Dubois** _(Good day, you're calling to agent Dubois' office)_" Christianne's assistant greeted

"**Marie, c'est moi. Qu'est-ce que tu as sur l'assignation je t'ai donné?** _(Marie, it's me. What have you got on the assigment I gave you?)_" Christianne asked feeling safe of talking through her secure private line

"**Rien de plus. Bien que, je dois dire, agent Callen semble très intéressé par des activités de directeur Sinclair. ****Il m'a même demandé de lui **_(Nothing much. Although, I must say, agent Callen seems very interested in director Sinclair's activities. __He even questioned me about him)_" Marie explained

"**Il soupçonne sans doute de lui... tout comme je ne... c'est pourquoi ils ne veulent pas de moi là-dedans... **_(He probably suspects of him... just as I do... that's why they don't want me in there...)_" She said more to herself than to her assistant

"**Voulez-vous que je continue avec la mission?** _(Do you want me to continue with the assignment?)_"

"**Oui, je sais de toute percée** _(Yes, let me know of any breakthrough)_" Chris finished and hung up looking up at the upper floor

McGee watched Christianne as she spoke and secretively recorded her conversation. Gibbs has instructed him to report on any anomaly he noticed on Christianne.

* * *

In the meantime, upstairs, Gibbs had commanded a connection with Alliance Base MTAC.

Callen had asked everyone to leave him alone and they had obliged.

"Callen, what happened?" Gibbs asked

"I don't know, Gibbs. We checked if it worked correctly before she left and we were getting her signal until moments ago" Callen explained

"You should've gone with her, Callen" Tony exclaimed

"I couldn't"

"You couldn't or you didn't want to?" Tony snapped back infuriated

"Stop it, DiNozzo" Gibbs commanded and Tony shut up

"G, where is the last place you got her signal at?" Sam asked

"Exactly 15 miles north outside a city called Kel" Callen said and a map appeared on their screen

"Where was she hiding the device?" Ziva asked

"Behind her ear" Callen replied

"If they already have her…" Christianne intervened walking into the room "You have 2 options"

"Agent Dubois, I thought it was clear that you were not supposed to come up here" Gibbs said

"You didn't say anything so, no, it wasn't clear enough…" Christianne challenged Gibbs and then looked at the screen. Callen was looking right at her

"What are the options?" Sam asked noticing the tension

"Either Katani's men found the device…"

"Duh…" Tony mumbled

"Or they hit her in the head, near the device, damaging it"

"What? Damaging it? Don't you mean: damaging her?" Tony exclaimed

"Silence, DiNozzo. What do you suggest, Callen?" Gibbs asked

"We can't send a team to look for her. At least not yet"

"Not yet? Then when? When they've found her dead body somewhere near Pakistan?" Tony almost shouted, Liz's image coming to his head

"We have no idea where she is, Tony. Maybe we should wait until the next oil order is made" Ziva suggested

"A month? Do you know what can happen to her in a whole month?" Tony continued

"We know, DiNozzo but it's the best we've got" Gibbs said and Tony stormed out of the communications room "Callen, keep investigating our man, I'm sure he has something to do with it"

"You're talking about director Sinclair, aren't you?" Christianne asked

Everyone looked at each other uncomfortably but Gibbs nodded "Yes, agent Dubois, we are"

"You believe he is the mole that has been tipping Katani?" She continued

"We do"

"So do I" She said

"What?" Everyone chorused surprised

"Yes… I've been suspecting he is for quite sometime… that's why I recommended agent Callen for the mission. If there's someone who can make another person talk…" Christianne stopped and looked at Callen for a moment before continuing "That's agent Callen…"

Callen felt the sadness in her look and he wished to see her soon and ask for forgiveness.

"Do you have anything on him?" Ziva asked

"No, not yet. I've been investigating him for a couple of months now but I haven't been able to find anything" She replied

"We'll keep working on that, then and wait for the next oil order to make our move" Sam said

And that was all they could do.

* * *

For the next month they heard nothing of Liz or her whereabouts. She had vanished from the face of the Earth and every night, Tony made the greatest effort not to lose his mind and let it deceive him with images of Liz being tortured or killed.

In Lyon, Callen continued the inside investigation on Alliance Base being as careful as possible to hide his true purpose: reveal director Sinclair's real moves.

Christianne helped the NCIS team to track all the steps Katani's men gave outside their 'zone'.

One of her expertises was on the Middle East and thanks to that, she knew some people who she thought could help them find Katani's lair and, of course, Liz. But all failed. Katani was a ghost.

Even Ziva contacted a few of her Mossad connections with no avail.

Director Vance informed the SAS of the problem and they were added to Liz's search.

And so, the holidays came and went and one normal Tuesday noon during the second week of January, Tony, who had turned much more quiet and serious since Liz's disappearance, suddenly slammed his fist against his desk and stood up.

"That's it!" He exclaimed as everyone around them turned to look at him

"Tony…" McGee started

"No, Tim, I'm sorry, I can't take it anymore. I've had it. I've waited a whole month, just like you asked me to do and now, it's time for us to do something. I don't care if Bernard Sinclair had something to do with it, I don't care if neither of you want to come with me or not but I am going to Kashmir to find Liz"

Everyone remained silent as Tony finished his speech.

Gibbs stood up and walked up to his senior agent and then slapped him in the back of the head.

"What took you so long, DiNozzo?" The functional mute, as Tony had once described Gibbs, scolded "What's the plan?"

"I've been working on it, boss" Tony proudly said taking out of his drawer a file full of details in the 'mission' he had been planning since the day Liz had disappeared and Gibbs smiled "The next oil order is due on Friday. I was thinking of hiding in the truck, wearing a tracking device, such as Liz's and once they've found me, I'll lead you to them"

"Sounds good, Tony but they will probably kill you when they find you. They only take agents as hostages" Sam pointed out

"I never said I would hide my identity. I'm gonna carry my badge if necessary"

"And what about the rescue mission?" Christianne asked

"A small rescue team followed by a bigger one to attack the place and give us safe passage out of it" Ziva proposed

"You're coming?" Tony asked surprised

"Of course. I am not going to let you have all the fun without me" Ziva replied smiling and Tony nodded

"I'm going too" Tim said "Liz is my friend as well…"

"We'll have to divide ourselves in strong teams" Christianne added

"Callen should come" Sam commented and received a deadly look from Christianne but she knew he was right

"What do you say, boss?" Tony asked

"I say…" Gibbs started but then looked up and saw Vance watching them from the upper level banister "I say do it"

It was then when Vance motioned him to follow him into his office. With an irritated sigh, Gibbs did so.

"Do you have anything to say, Leon?" He asked closing the door as irritated as before

"Your team is planning a rescue mission" Vance pointed out the obvious

"So?"

"So, you need Alliance Base's and SAS' clearance, Gibbs"

"I don't need that to function; you do"

"That is precisely the problem, Gibbs. Maybe you should convince yourself and your team, especially agent DiNozzo that agent Hadley is probably dead by now"

"Ziva survived for 4 months in a prisoner camp, what makes you think Liz can't make it?" Gibbs asked and then narrowed his eyes "Unless there's something you know that I don't and I should…"

Vance didn't answer. He continued to chew his toothpick and, enraged, Gibbs strode around the desk and grabbed his so-called boss by the collar of his shirt menacingly.

"What do you know?" He asked

"Bernard Sinclair" Vance calmly replied

"What about him?"

"Your team has been secretly investigating him and that includes Callen"

"And…?"

Vance looked at Gibbs as if he was demanding the agent to release him. Gibbs did so but his temper didn't cool off.

"I talked to the DGSE's chairman, to see if they knew anything about agent Hadley. They didn't but they mentioned their suspicions about Sinclair. I told them agent Callen was already working on that and…"

"And…"

"And they said Sinclair and Katani have a connection"

"What kind of connection?"

"Katani was raised in Paris, as was Sinclair and they happened to attend the same university"

"They know each other… that's why Katani trusts him" Gibbs deduced more calm

"Yes" Gibbs said no more and walked to the door "Gibbs" Vance called and he stopped "I'll get you the clearance you need for the rescue"

"Thank you" Gibbs said and exited the office and rushed back downstairs "Sinclair is making sure every agent he sends doesn't come back" He announced to his team

"What do you mean?" Christianne asked

"He and Katani met in college. That's their connection"

"Katani's probably paying Sinclair for his service" Sam said

"That's the anomaly Liz meant" McGee commented gaining everyone's attention "She insisted on us checking Sinclair's bank accounts, remember, boss?" He asked and Gibbs nodded "She might've thought he was getting paid for his treason. I did happen to find that his accounts were always full, up to this day"

Gibbs wasted no time and called Callen to inform him on this.

They both agreed that he would do nothing until the team arrived to France.

"We're going to France?" McGee asked excited

"Yes, McGee. We leave tonight" Gibbs replied conclusively

* * *

**Thank you so much to all of you who have continued reading and to all of those newies reading this for the first time MWAH!!!**

**Koo Koo Kah Choo! xoxo**


	10. Chapter 9: Haunt Me For All Eternity

**Too ree roo ree...  
I'm here people, I'm here... *dances away to Lady Gaga's "Telephone"***

***shouts from afar* Enjoy!!!**

**

* * *

**

**CHAPTER 9**

"Gibbs" Callen greeted as the NCIS team arrived to Lyon

"Have you missed us, G?" Sam asked jokingly

"Not really…"

Callen noticed Christianne's presence and tried to approach to her but she immediately rushed into the building, towards her office.

"Still no change?" Callen asked Sam who just shook his head

"What is this?" Sinclair asked confused by the scene. No one had informed him of the plans

"Director Sinclair, I'm agent Gibbs and this is my team" Gibbs said without much enthusiasm

"You're NCIS… what are you doing here?" Sinclair interrogated anxiously

"We've come to help"

"I do not believe that's necessary, agent Gibbs. My people and I have everything under control" The fat director replied

"I seriously doubt that. You've lost 3 agents during simple recognisance missions and you sent one of my own straight to the wolf's mouth. Believe me, everything is not under control" Gibbs said

"Or at least not under your control, director" Callen said

"What… what do you mean?" Sinclair stammered

"You are no longer in charge of this mission, Sinclair and you are to be detained until further notice" Gibbs said

"You have no authority to do this!" He exclaimed

"They don't, but I do" Christianne said walking to him with a paper in her hand "You might want to read this, Bernard"

Bernard took the paper and read it. His eyes widened in shock as he passed his eyes over the words.

"What is this? You can't do this! You are a traitor, Christianne!" He shouted

Chris stepped forward and slapped her once-boss and said "You are the traitor here, Bernard! The entire agency trusted you and you've let us down. You're nothing but a coward and you will be treated as such"

"You have no proof" Bernard said

"Not enough, yes. But once we've caught Katani, we'll have more than enough to put you and your best friend behind bars for the rest of your miserable lives" Callen threatened

"You are under arrest, Bernard Sinclair for the charges of treason against the Republic of France" Christianne said as Sam handcuffed him and 2 A.B. officers took him away

"Where are they gonna take him?" Tony asked

"In our own cells, at least until we've gotten to Katani's lair and found something to connect them with" Christianne explained

"You are now in charge, Christianne. Can we proceed with the operation?" Gibbs asked and Christianne nodded as they followed her to the operation room

They planned everything. Tony would get into Katani's headquarters by infiltrating into the oil order and once Katani's men had found him, he would activate his own tracking device which would lead Gibbs and the rest to them.

Gibbs assigned the teams this way: Sam and McGee would go through the north; himself and Ziva through the east and Christianne and Callen through the west. A larger raid team would wait for their signal to enter through the south.

After everything was decided, Christianne, who was not very happy with Gibbs' decision of putting her with Callen, remained in the now empty operations room, thinking about her encounter with Callen, without knowing that he was watching her leaning on the door frame.

She suddenly turned around and almost jumped as she noticed his presence.

"Callen! I thought… I thought you had gone with Gibbs and the others to prepare everything" She gasped

"I was going to… but… I wanted…" He started and then turned around to close the door "I wanted to talk to you first"

"I do not believe we have something to talk about" Christianne said seriously gathering the papers that were spread on the table

"There is, Christianne, you know there is" Callen said almost in a whisper approaching to her

"What do you want us to talk about, Callen? Everything has been said and done, if I remember correctly"

"No, Chris. You never let me convince you that I was not lying when I said I loved you…"

"You know what? Stop right there. I don't want to hear it" She then tried to walk to the door but he didn't let her, taking her by the arm "Let go, Callen"

"No, you're gonna listen to me. I love you, Christianne and I know I was wrong to lie to you back in Spain but even though I was in a mission and I had to accomplish it, I told you the truth"

"It's easy for you to say that, Callen. I opened my heart to you and I put my career at risk by telling you who I was! You made me love you and felt nothing in return! I was nothing but a job for you and I don't intend on making the same mistake and believing in your words. We are gonna do this because it is our job but it doesn't mean I've forgiven you or forgotten what you did, is that clear?" Christianne exclaimed

She intended to continue but a knock on the door interrupted her. The door opened and Tony walked in.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but… we are ready" He said

"Yes… thank you, Tony" Christianne said and after shooting a deadly look at Callen stormed out of the room

"Is she…?" Tony started asking

"She's alright. Let's go" Callen simply replied and walked out of the room, heading towards the prep room

Tony followed and remained silent but couldn't help to notice the tension between Callen and Christianne and being his curious self, he approached to Sam.

"Hey, Sam…" He started

"What's up, Tony?"

"Uhmm… I was wondering… is there something going on between Callen and Christianne?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, the day Christianne came to NCIS she mentioned she wanted to kill him and a moment ago, when I came to the op room to find them, they seemed to be arguing…" Tony said

"Oh… yeah… I don't know if either of them would be too happy to know I've told you…" Sam replied

"Oh, c'mon, man… you can tell me… I won't tell them you did…" Tony insisted

Sam glanced at both Callen and Chris and then looked back at Tony.

"Ok…" Sam took a deep breath and continued "Almost 3 years ago, Callen had just joined NCIS; he was assigned to go undercover and follow a Colombian drug lord who resided in Spain. He became friends with this criminal and in the meantime he met a young woman called Ana. She happened to be involved with the drug lord Callen was after so he decided to get closer to Ana and obtain information through her. He made her fall in love with him and without realizing… he fell in love too"

"Wait… Christianne told me Callen had made her believe he loved her, not some other girl…" Tony protested

"I thought you'd ask… Ana was Christianne's undercover name…" Tony raised his eyebrows in acknowledge "Exactly. Christianne was still working for the French military intelligence and she had been sent to do exactly the same as Callen although, neither of them knew about each other's true identities. After almost 6 months, Callen doubted of his mission"

"Why did he doubt?"

"Because he was ordered to kill Ana but he couldn't. He asked her to run away with him. He offered everything, including protection"

"And she said no" Tony said

"She said no and a few days later, one of her informants told her about Callen's true identity. She faced him as Ana and asked for the truth. Callen was really in love with her and was unable to lie. He told her everything and in her anger, feeling betrayed and used, Ana told him the truth and revealed herself as Christianne" Sam paused and looked over at Chris who was checking some guns with Ziva "She was really hurt, I know it because we've been friends before that happened but I knew nothing about her mission so there was nothing I could do. Eventually, her superiors ordered her to retire from the case but she didn't do so. She kept posing as the drug lord's girlfriend for a while and at one point she almost kills Callen because the criminal asked her to do it. She couldn't and that's how her cover was blown. Both Callen and Chris killed the drug lord and completed the mission and after that, Chris returned to France and Callen to the US and she never spoke to him again, even when he tried to contact her several times. After that, she was hired by Alliance Base and well… you know the rest" Sam finished his explanation with a sigh

"Wow… that sounds like a Greek tragedy to me…" Tony commented

"Something like that, yes… it's very sad because they are both my friends and I know they still have feelings for each other but she hasn't been able to forgive him"

Tony looked at both Callen and Christianne and remembered the last few things he had said to Liz. He didn't wanna end up like them. He loved Liz and if he had to kneel down and ask for forgiveness, he'd do it. But first he had to find Liz alive.

* * *

In less than 3 hours, the operation was ready to take off. The team got on the same plane Liz had been on which took them to India.

There, they tracked the 2 trucks that were to deliver the oil order to Katani and waited for the right moment to start the plan.

"Are you sure you want to do this, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked minutes before Tony got on one of the trucks

"I'm willing to do anything to get Liz back" He replied not caring if his boss discovered his relationship with Liz

Gibbs said nothing more and just nodded.

A couple of minutes later, from the small hut they had rented, the team saw from afar how the trucks approached. Luckily for them, they were unguarded.

"It's now or never, Tony" Callen said and Tony nodded

Guarded by the rest of the team, he got into the back of the second truck and left along with the oil.

* * *

For 2 days they heard nothing of Tony and for 2 days Tony remained in the back of the truck, except when nature called and the trucks stopped.

Until and before he knew it, they arrived to Kel. It was the middle of the day when the trucks stopped or best said, were stopped.

A group of soldiers halted the small convoy and started inspecting the load.

'Here we go' Tony thought and then raised his hands for the soldiers to see. They immediately pointed their gun machines at him "Whoa, wait, wait, don't shoot!" He exclaimed and then one of the soldiers commanded him (more like shouted) to get out of the truck. Tony didn't understand but started stepping out of it anyways "Take it easy, I'm unarmed"

The soldiers registered him for weapons and found nothing but his badge. They read it and handed it to the one who seemed to be the leader.

"Who are you?" He asked Tony with a strong accent

"My name is Anthony DiNozzo, I'm an NCIS agent"

"Agent? We were not told about any more agents" The man exclaimed and motioned his men to point their guns at Tony and to charge them

"No, no, wait! I know I wasn't invited but I came to see Commander Katani"

"Does he know?"

"Not that I'm aware of but I'm sure he won't refuse to see me" Tony smiled

Then, after discussing it for some minutes, the soldiers nodded at some orders the leader gave them and approached Tony. They tied his hands and covered his head and face with a woollen sack, just like they had done with Liz a month before, but they didn't hit him, since he didn't resist.

They put him in a different truck and took him to Katani's headquarters. Once they were on the truck, Tony pretended to be scratching his ear and activated the tracking device. This time, the plan wouldn't fail.

After a 2 hour drive, the soldier stopped the truck and along with another soldier, took Tony out of the car and into the same building Liz had been taken to.

They stopped walking and Tony heard one of the soldiers talking to a third man.

"**کیا ہو رہا ہے?** _(What's happening?)_" Tony heard the third man ask

"**ہم ایک ncis ایجنٹ چھپواں میں تیل کے ایک ٹرک **_(We found an NCIS agent hidden in one of the oil trucks)_" The soldier said

"**کیا? مجھے کوئی اس کے بارے میں اگاہ کیا. ان لا مجھے!** _(What? No one informed me about this. Bring him to me!)_"

With that, Tony felt how the soldiers took him to a different room and then released him.

At once, the man in front of him took the sack off his head and Tony had to blink a couple of times for his eyes to become accustomed to the light again.

"Who are you?" The man asked

"Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo… you must be Commander Katani" Tony said casually

"Do I know you?"

"No, you don't… but you happen to know a friend of mine…"

"Why are you here?" Katani interrogated

"I came to negotiate the release of agent Elizabeth Hadley"

"She is your friend, then" Katani said and Tony nodded slightly "You've come all the way from America to tell me this?"

"I have"

"Then you've wasted both your time and your life. Agent Hadley is dead"

Tony felt his heart tearing apart. He clenched his jaw and swallowed hard "You're lying"

"Why would I lie?" Katani smiled "She was of no use to me"

"Where is she?" Tony insisted "I know she's alive, where is she?"

Katani narrowed his eyes but the smile remained on his face.

"**ان لا **_(Bring her)_" He calmly instructed one of his men "I must say I'm impressed, agent DiNozzo, by your perseverance in the rescue of your friend. I assume my special taste in fine things gave me away"

"Seriously, man, who buys scented oil to light such a nasty place?" Tony commented and Katani laughed

"You Americans and your lack of culture… of education. I like to incorporate the finest things in my life, no matter what, when, where or how…" Katani said and then, the man who had left the room moments before returned, dragging a woman whose clothes were damp, filthy, torn here and there, her hair was messy, her skin was dirty but she was breathing. It was Liz "There you go, agent DiNozzo, your friend is alive"

Tony wasted no time and tried to kneel next to Liz who seemed barely conscious but Katani drew his gun out and pointed at him, stopping him.

"Not yet. Why are you here?"

"I told you I came for her" Tony repeated

"You said that but you're not so idiot to believe I was actually going to give her up so easily, are you?" Tony looked at the man suspiciously and furrowed his brows "You're not getting out of here, agent DiNozzo and neither is she"

"What if I stay instead of her?" Tony proposed

"I said no! Neither of you is leaving this place! Now I have you, agent Hadley and agent Beaufort in my power, what makes you think I'm willing to give up this huge advantage you've just given me?" Katani smiled widely and then looked at his men "**ان کا دور ہے!** _(Take them away!)_" He commanded

The soldiers took him and Liz out of the office and to a room that was a few hallways away from it.

The place was like a bunker made out of concrete which made it terribly cold and humid. Once they reached for the dungeon-like room, they were practically thrown to the floor and locked in there.

"Liz! Liz…" Tony said rushing to Liz's side "Liz, answer me"

He removed the locks of hair from her face and placed her head on his lap. She had several bruises on her face and body and a couple of cuts on her left brow, right cheek and lower lip.

"Liz, wake up" He insisted

"What are you doing here?" She replied as lucidly as ever; as if she wasn't hurt at all, opening her eyes

"Liz!" Tony exclaimed hugging her

"Ouch!" She winced at the pain

"Sorry… where does it hurt?" He asked

"You should ask: where doesn't it hurt? It would be easier for me to point those places… and faster… what are you doing here?" She replied sitting up

"I came to… rescue you…?" He said making it sound more like a question than an affirmation

"Oh, really? You came to rescue me and got captured while trying or your came to rescue me by being captured?"

"The second one…" He said and she nodded but remained silent "Why did you pretend to be barely conscious?"

"Well, during my first few days here I discovered that the more awake and lucid and healthy I looked for them, the more they tried to hurt me. If I look too weak to take a beating, they just slap me a couple of times and then leave me alone…" Liz explained as if it was the most natural thing "If I look strong and daring, they get angrier and beat the hell out of me… you probably might wanna do it too"

"Oh… ok… is that how you've managed to survive so far?"

"Yeah… well, Gibbs asked me to resist as much as I could… I said I would so, here I am… resisting… so what's the plan?"

"Wait a second… you knew we would end up coming for you?"

"Duh! Of course! But also I was aware that I would have to wait"

"What happened to the tracking device?"

"The day they captured me and took me to Kel, they tried to cover my face with a sack. I didn't want them to, fought them and they ended up hitting me on one side of the head with the butt of an AK-47, which of course damaged the device. I've been trying to fix it but it's so tiny and I'm such a wuss when it comes to technology… oh well…" She sighed crossing her legs, making her look quite childlike

Tony stared at her in shock. She was behaving as if nothing had happened. As if they hadn't stopped seeing each other for a whole month, as if she hadn't been captured by terrorists and beaten to dead almost everyday.

Without saying anything else, he leaned forward and embraced her as if his life depended on it, which in a way, he felt it did.

"What's wrong, Tony?" She asked confused by his behaviour

"I thought you were dead" He whispered making her smile

"I thought you might think that… but I'm ok, really!" She said, hugging him back

"No, Liz, you don't understand! I THOUGHT YOU HAD DIED! I thought I'd never see you again! And after all the things I told you on the phone the day you came here… I couldn't sleep fearing your ghost would come at night to haunt me for all eternity" Tony exclaimed dramatically

"You seriously need to stop watching so many movies, Tony…" Liz joked but Tony didn't smile and she sighed "I've been thinking about that too, you know? Everything I said that day… and the day before I left for Lyon. I shouldn't push you out of my life. I wanted a relationship with you, I demanded faithfulness and you delivered and I've been so scared of letting people down… of getting hurt that I haven't considered your feelings either… I'm really sorry"

"What do you mean by 'letting people down'?"

"Well… I haven't wanted to quit the SAS because it is like being a Marine… and if I quit, I fear Gibbs will be disappointed at me…"

"Are you serious?"

"Yes"

"That's the most stupid thing I've ever heard!"

"What?!" Liz asked feeling insulted

"No, please, don't take it like that… what I meant was… Liz, Gibbs sees you as a daughter…"

"Precisely because of that!"

"Would you let me finish? Thanks… he would never, ever be disappointed at you. No one in their clear mind could think that of you"

"You think so?"

"I know so…"

"And you? Would you be disappointed if I quit the SAS?"

"I'd be delighted if you did so" Tony said and she smiled even more

"So… it is not over?" Liz asked

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… you and I… that day, when we had the fight… I said it was over… can we… forget about that?" She hesitated

"I already did" Tony smirked and kissed her softly but after remembering where they were, Liz parted the kiss

"Sorry but…" She eyed the guards behind the door

"Yeah, you're right…"

"So what's the plan?" She asked after a while

"They are divided in teams. I'm wearing a tracking device and I can proudly say it still works" He said and she hit him in the arm "Ouch…"

"But they alone… they won't be able to get in here…"

"They are not coming alone… you see, Sam and McGee are coming through the north, Gibbs and Ziva through the east and Callen and Christianne through the west… and the south will be covered by a commando… sounds good to you?"

"It does… and what exactly is the whole idea?"

* * *

**Hope you're liking it, my children!!!**  
**And just so you know, we are slowly making it to the end... chan chan chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!**

**Thanks for reading and for your patience!!!**

**Koo Koo Kah Choo! xoxo**


	11. Chapter 10: That's New

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 10**

After 2 days of waiting, the team received the signal from Tony's device, a few kilometres north from where Liz's last signal was registered.

"Kel is the parting point. According to this satellite photos, they leave their Hummers there and go separately in smaller cars up north until they get here" Sam said pointing at the virtual map they had in front of them in the accustomed hut

"Mount Nanga Parbat" Gibbs said

"The zone's climate allows them to hide their headquarters even more, especially at this time of the year" Sam continued

"Snow… how's the tourism, McGee?" Callen asked

"Quite high, at least in the zone but the closer to where Tony's signal is, the less tourists" Tim replied typing furiously on his lap top "Especially at the west"

"That gives me an idea…" Christianne said

"Yeah, me too… Chris and I are going through the west. It would be easier for us to pose as some lost tourists, climbers or something and then, it'll be easier for us to get in…" Callen said as if he had read Christianne's mind

"We'll be a distraction to them, giving the rest of you free passage" Christianne finished

"Sounds good" Gibbs said

"The security is high" Ziva interfered "You'll have to be extra careful as you give us the right sign to go in"

"I have the ear pieces ready for everyone" McGee said

"Ok. Callen, Chris, you'll leave in an hour to the nearest village and pretend to be a couple looking for some adventure, meanwhile, the rest of us will take our positions. This operation starts tomorrow at 1600 hours" Gibbs wrapped up

After that, Christianne started getting ready and Sam approached to her.

"Hey…" He said

"Hey, what's up?"

"Nothing… are you ok?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well… someone told me you and Callen had an argument before we left France, wanna talk about that?"

"Not really… it's the same old story… the same old lies… I don't know how I'm supposed to withstand Callen's presence without…" Her voice trailed off not sure of how to continue

"Without forgiving him?" Sam suggested

"I could never forgive him, Sam"

"I don't think so… I think you've already forgiven him, you love him so much you've already done so"

"What? I don't love him! I hate him"

"That's even better" Sam said

"What do you mean?"

"You can't hate someone you haven't loved and there's no shorter path to love than through hate…" He replied

"You confuse me, Sam Hanna…"

"I tend to do that… but I think you know what I mean and that's what scares you the most"

"But…"

"You haven't wanted to talk to him because you know you'll give in and forget everything if you do so…"

"Now I think I hate you…" Christianne joked with a serious face but laughing lightly after a second, making Sam laugh

In less than an hour, Callen and Christianne were more than ready to head to Nanga Parbat.

McGee had managed to rent them a helicopter which took them to the desired location.

It was a snow-covered valley with mountains all around and the biggest of them all, Nanga Parbat to the east.

"Tony's signal isn't too far from here, Gibbs" Callen said into his ear piece

"But it's going to take us more than a day to get anywhere near. We'll have to reschedule the operation" Christianne added, inspecting the area

"When?" Gibbs simply asked

"In 2 more days, at the least" She honestly said

"Alright, we'll do this the day after tomorrow and I want the 2 of you there at 1200 hours" Gibbs instructed and cut the communication

"He's worried about Liz" Christianne said

"Me too" Callen replied as they started walking towards the mountain

"Do you… like her?" She asked with hesitation after a while in silence

"Who? Liz?" Callen asked and she nodded "Yeah, I do. She's a great girl and a good friend too"

"Just a friend?" She casually inquired, insisting

"Yes, just a friend" He said and couldn't help to smile "Are you jealous?"

"What? Me? Jealous? Of course not! I couldn't care less about your love life… I mean… personal life…" She hurried to answer

"Right… anyways, even if I liked her as more than a friend, it would be impossible"

"Why?"

"Because she's in a serious relationship with someone else…"

"Tony"

"You know too?"

"He 'accidentally' told me… apparently they don't want Gibbs to know"

"The thing with Gibbs is that he has these… rules…"

"Yeah, I've heard a few already"

"Well, I bet you haven't heard the one Tony and Liz fear the most…" Chris furrowed her brows and he continued "Rule #12: never date a co-worker"

"Oh, I see… but they've been together for over 6 months! How have they managed to hide it from Gibbs?"

"They haven't. I bet Gibbs already knows about it but he hasn't told them anything…"

"It's like a forbidden love…" Chris said softly

"Like us…" Callen completed and kept walking as she stopped "Chris! Are you coming?" He called

"Yes!" She replied and caught up with him

For the next couple of hours they walked and acted as if they were a couple of clueless tourists until they reached a small almost frozen lake.

At the other side of the lake, they saw a group of soldiers wearing Katani's group uniforms.

"Damn" Callen muttered as they hid behind a mound of snow "Those are Katani's men"

"Maybe we should let them get us" Chris suggested

"No, it would do us no good. The west side of the location would be left uncovered for the team to go in. We should go to the other side of the lake and ask for lodging in one of the cottages. There must be someone who will take us in" Callen said

Christianne agreed and they left their hiding place.

As discreetly as they could, they marched on the snow towards the small town they had made out in the distance but the soldiers saw them and pointed their guns at them.

It was clear that no tourist ever dared to go that close to their zone.

They started shouting at them in Urdu and Christianne decided to speak out.

"**ہم سیاحوں کو نقصان نہیں, ہمیں!** _(We're tourists! Don't hurt us!)_" She exclaimed and Callen covered her mouth "What?" She asked

"Tourists can't speak Urdu! Only Urdus and spies do!" Callen correctly pointed out

"Oh… yes… oops…"

And then, the soldiers started shooting at them. They weren't hit as they ran extremely fast to dodge the bullets but there seemed to be no hiding place anywhere near besides the snow mounds and that's when it occurred to Callen.

"Come!" He said taking Christianne's hand and pulling her towards the cold lake "We'll hide under the snow by the edge of the lake; they'll think we've fallen and died"

She didn't opposed to the plan but wasn't so sure about it. They threw themselves to the snowy edge of the lake and crawled carefully along side the waterline of the lake, trying not to fall.

The soldiers kept shooting although they couldn't see them anymore.

Christianne pressed her body against the ice-covered rocky wall beneath a thick coat of snow. There was a small fissure in it but big enough to let her hide better and give Callen some space to hide as well.

He held on to the wall but the ice made his fingers slip and he fell into the freezing waters of the practically still lake.

He emerged and Christianne stretched out her hand for Callen to reach for it and get out of the water which could eventually kill him but in that moment, the soldiers walked that way and Callen let go of Chris's hand, taking a deep breath and sinking back into the water.

She went completely silent as she heard the soldiers walking above the patch of earth over her and looked down at the lake. She couldn't see Callen anymore and she felt as if her own heart had frozen.

The soldiers shot a few times at the lake, near them and then, after hearing them laugh in satisfaction, Chris heard them walking away.

The sound of starting car engines let her know that it was safe to come out and to get Callen out of the water.

"Callen!" She called but he didn't come out "Callen, please, don't do this! Callen!"

After calling a fourth time, Callen emerged to the surface, shaking and barely breathing.

With the little strength he had left and with Christianne's help, he crawled out of the lake.

"Callen! Talk to me, please…" She said trying to give him warmth but it was impossible. The weather was about -25º C and he was soaked from head to toe "Come on"

Chris stood up and pulled Callen up, making him lean on her. He walked slowly as she led him to the nearest cottage.

Outside the cottage, a man who was shepherding 5 goats saw them and rushed to them, to their aid.

"**براہ کرم, ہماری مدد کریں. انہوں نے جھیل میں گر گئی** _(Please, help us. He fell into the lake)_" Christianne begged and the man nodded as they walked into the cottage

Once inside, the man's wife aided them too. They took Callen and Christianne to one of the small house's rooms and placed him on the bed.

"**مجھے ان سے کمبل اور گرم پانی **_(I will bring him blankets and hot water)_" The woman kindly said and exited the room

Moment later, she returned with several blankets, a pot with hot water and a tray of food.

"**اپ رہ سکتے ہیں جب تک اپ خواہش** _(You can stay as long as you wish)_" The man offered

"**سب کے لئے اپ کا شکریہ. **_(Thank you… for everything)_" Christianne replied as the couple left her and Callen alone "I have to get you out of these soaked clothes…" She said to Callen who was on the verge of losing all consciousness "Hey, hey… stay with me, ok? Callen! Callen!"

Feeling ashamed, as if someone was watching her, Christianne stripped Callen from his clothes (except his underwear) and covered him with a blanket but it didn't seemed to be working; he kept trembling terribly.

"Please, don't make me do this…" She told him but he wasn't listening, he was barely there "Ok… here I go…"

Rolling her eyes and blushing as much as the cold allowed her, she stripped off her clothes (except her underwear, too), took the blanket off Callen's body and pressed hers against his, rubbing her hands and arms along his to make the blood circulate again.

"C'mon, Callen…" She whispered "I have to fasten your heartbeat"

She continued to do this until Callen eventually stopped trembling and his breathing became steadier. His heart rate also increased and the colour returned to his face.

But he had no strength left. He had immediately fallen asleep.

Christianne, also exhausted by the chase, after covering him once more with the blanket, covered herself, and lied next to him on the bed.

"Please don't leave me…" She whispered facing him "I love you too much to lose you again…"

The next morning, Callen woke up to find himself in bed, without clothes and next to him, Christianne, also without clothes.

"That's… new…" He said to himself out loud

Chris looked as peaceful and beautiful as she had looked every single time Callen had woken up beside her.

Of course, the circumstances had been different and since he remembered everything that had happened the day before at the lake, he knew nothing too intimate had happened between them but he did remember a few nice things about her.

She slowly opened her eyes and saw him staring at him intently.

"Good morning" He greeted with a small smile

"Good… Callen!" She shouted and threw herself at him, hugging him "You're ok! You're ok, right?"

"I am… thanks to you…" He replied

"I… oh…"

It was then when it hit her. She was practically naked; he was practically naked; she had spent the night, so to speak, with him… she had to let go. And she did.

"Yeah… sorry…" She murmured as she parted the embrace and scooted a bit away from him and looking down

"You saved my life, Chris… thank you" Callen said, making her face him by lifting her chin

"I… I did what I had to do, Callen… for the mission's sake" She lied not looking at him in the eye

"Was that the real reason?" He insisted

"Why else would I have done it for?"

"I think you know why…"

He leaned forward, meaning to kiss her and for a moment, he though she might actually kiss him back but she stopped and looked away.

"We better get going" She said standing up wrapped in one of the blankets

"Sure…" He replied

Chris got dressed and exited the small room, to let Callen get dressed too.

As she walked out, she saw that the owners of the cottage were tied to their chairs and their mouth were gagged and that a group of 5 soldiers stood in front of her, pointing their guns at her.

"Who are you?" One of them asked

"My name is… Anne Burrows… I'm a tourist" She lied

"**نہیں, وہ نہیں ہے! میں نے دیکھا کہ ان کے کل جھیل اور وہ بولا ہمارے زبان ہے! وہ تنہا نہیں یا **_(No, she is not! I saw her yesterday by the lake and she spoke our language! She wasn't alone either)_" Another one said

"Who was with you?" The first one asked

"My husband… he fell into the lake… he died last night" Christianne replied

The leader turned to the couple who witnessed the scene terrified and shouted "**کیا یہ صحیح ہے?** _(Is this true?)_"

The couple glanced at Christianne who moved her head so lightly, the soldiers couldn't perceive it but the man who had helped them noticed and then looked back at the soldier and nodded.

"**تلاش ہاؤس! **_(Search the house!)_" The man commanded not fully convinced

Callen, who had heard everything from inside the room, rushed to the window and climbed out the cottage.

A couple of soldiers burst into the room and search every possible hiding place for Callen but found no one.

Once they were back in the kitchen, they tied Christianne's hands and took her out of the house,

"**اس چھالہ اور اندر جانے کی** _(Burn it… and leave them inside)_" The leader said and he walked out of the house and glanced that the helpless couple

Christianne protested but with no avail. She was loaded into the men's vehicle and saw how they threw a torch into the wood cottage.

"No!" She shouted but they didn't listen or care

As they started the vehicle, Christianne saw Callen hiding behind a mound of snow a few yards away from the cottage and then, they drove away.

Callen had noticed how Christianne had nodded at him before the soldiers took her and then he heard the muffled screams of the kind couple struggling to set free from their boundaries. He ran into the house and set them free. The 3 of them made their way through the fire and smoke and exited the cottage which was doomed to become ashes.

After checking that the man and his wife were alright, Callen retrieved their equipment (he had taken it with him when he escaped the house) and asked the couple to lend him their only horse. They agreed thankful to him for saving them.

"Gibbs! Gibbs, do you copy?" Callen called on Christianne's earpiece (his had been damaged with the water)

"Yes, Callen, I copy" Gibbs replied

"They have Christianne"

"What? What happened?"

"I can't explain right now, but it's good. I'm on my way to the headquarters. I believe we'll be able to run the operation today"

"At what time?" Gibbs asked

"At 1400 hours. I'll call you when I get there"

He cut the communication, got on the horse and rode as fast as the horse could.

At the hut…

"Gear up, people. We're heading to Nanga Parbat" Gibbs instructed to his team

The 4 of them got ready and were pleased hear from their people in Lyon that the commando was already on its way to Katani's headquarters.

Outside, a helicopter was waiting for them. They got on it and headed to the north.

* * *

**Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!!!**

**Koo Koo Kah Choo! xoxo**


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